Screening of the antigen epitopes of basic fibroblast growth factor by phage display

Abstract

In order to investigate the epitope of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and its immunogenicity, the epitopes of bFGF were screened from the phage display library with monoclonal antibody GF22, which can neutralize the bio-activity of bFGF. By three rounds of screening, the positive phage clones with bFGF epitopes were selected, which can effectively block the bFGF to bind with GF22. Sequence analysis showed that the epitopes shared a highly conservative sequence (Leu-Pro-Pro/Leu-Gly-His-Phe/Ile-Lys). The sequence of PPGHFK was located at 22-27 of the bFGF. The specific immuno-response of mouse could be highly induced by phage clones with the epitopes. And the anti-bFGF activity induced by LPGHFK was 3 times higher than the original sequence, which showed that the mimetic peptide LPLGHIK might be used as a tumor vaccine in the prevention and treatment of tumor.