Anka N. Veleva, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, 911 Partners Way, Box 7905, Raleigh, NC 27695, Daniel Heath, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, Jed Johnson, Material Science and Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, Cam Patterson, Department of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 8200 Medical Biomolecular Research Bldg., 103 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, John J. Lannutti, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, and Stuart L. Cooper, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University, 140 West 19th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210.
We report the discovery of novel peptides that are highly specific for endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) by screening phage display libraries. Our strategy for isolation of ligand peptides is designed to allow using whole cells as an affinity matrix. We show that binding of phage clones is highly specific for EPC since no binding has been observed on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), HL-60 leukemia cells, human neutrophils and monocytes. To demonstrate the utility of the phage display selected, EPC-specific peptide sequences, free peptides have been synthesized and covalently immobilized to synthetic materials using chain transfer free radical polymerization chemistry. The functionalized material was made into highly porous network of fine fibers by electrospinning. The cellular responses of endothelial progenitor cells with regard to cell attachment, proliferation, and phenotype expression were investigated. The results from this study contribute to the development of new strategies to be exploited for the design of biomimetic materials for tissue engineering applications.