Targeting the disialoganglioside GD2 in neuroblastoma using a phage display derived oligopeptide

Introduction: High expression of GD2 on neuroblastoma cells renders this disialoganglioside an attractive target for novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches. Anti-GD2 antibodies have already entered the clinical stage, but GD2-based markers could also serve in diagnostics and for imaging purposes. Method: We performed a combined in vivo and in vitro phage display screen to identify GD2-specific peptides. The resulting phages were tested for their binding specificity and their ability to home to a xenograft neuroblastoma tumor. Phage-derived peptides were further characterizsed using MTT-Assays and radioactiv…