Bacteriophage based probes for pathogen detection

Abstract

Rapid and specific detection of pathogenic bacteria is important for the proper treatment, containment and prevention of human, animal and plant diseases. Identifying unique biological probes to achieve a high degree of specificity and minimize false positives has therefore garnered much interest in recent years. Bacteriophages are obligate intracellular parasites that subvert bacterial cell resources for their own multiplication and production of disseminative new virions, which repeat the cycle by binding specifically to the host surface receptors and injecting genetic material into the bacterial cells. The precision of host recognition in phages is imparted by the receptor binding proteins (RBPs) that are often located in the tail-spike or tail fiber protein assemblies of the virions. Phage host recognition specificity has been traditionally exploited for bacterial typing using laborious and time consuming bacterial growth assays. At the same time this feature makes phage virions or RBPs an excellent choice for the development of probes capable of selectively capturing bacteria on solid surfaces with subsequent quick and automatic detection of the binding event. This review focuses on the description of pathogen detection approaches based on immobilized phage virions as well as pure recombinant RBPs. Specific advantages of RBP-based molecular probes are also discussed.

WITHDRAWN: Dual display bacteriophage as a platform for high sensitive detection of serum p53 antibodies in breast cancer patients

“…As a novel type of nano-scale biomaterial, phage attracted the attention of researchers working in various areas including genetics molecular biology, material science, detection, and therapy [9][10][11]. The wild-type filamentous bacteriophage, such as M13 and fd-tet, is 900 nm in length and 7 nm wide in diameter, which specifically infects bacteria and possesses the non-toxic and genetically modifiable characters [12].…”

Nanoscale bacteriophage biosensors beyond phage display

“…[4][5][6][7] Provided that there is adequate culture of the host, an economical, rapid, and reproducible means to mass produce genetically-engineered bacteriophages is possible, 8 thereby providing an excellent alternative to conventional artificially-synthesized nanoconstructs (ie, nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanotubes). Additionally, their morphological variations (dimensions ranging from 40 nm to 2 µm with linear or polygonal capsid structures), the ease with which genetic modifications can be made to their structure and functionality, and their biocompatibility confer further advantages over traditional nanoconstructs.…”

Construction of Fe3O4/Vancomycin/PEG Magnetic Nanocarrier for Highly Efficient Pathogen Enrichment and Gene Sensing

“…Several factors restrict the widespread use of PCR in complex samples: (1) large sample volumes (≥10 mL or gm), which is far beyond the ability of PCR (10-50 µL), (2) enzymatic reaction inhibitors in residual food components, (3) low levels of contaminating pathogenic bacterial. 13 By and large, the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 6 tedious culture-based enrichment is still necessary for providing sufficient amplification of bacteria before the nucleic acid amplification steps.…”