Phage display identification of immunodominant epitopes and autoantibodies in autoimmune diseases

Abstract

Phage display represents an invaluable tool to study autoimmune diseases. The side effects of immunosuppressive drugs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases raise awareness of the need to explore alternative therapeutic approaches such as antibodies and peptides. Therefore, phage display is an important technique for generating such molecules, so the purpose of this review is to determine the potential advantages of this technique in the research of autoimmune diseases. Many studies have also demonstrated the efficacy of phage display in identifying immunodominant epitopes of autoimmune diseases such as Goodpasture disease, immunologic thrombocytopenia, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Phage display peptide libraries have been screened with immunopurified autoantibodies from patients with autoimmune diseases. This makes it possible to more precisely locate the autoantibody binding sites, reveal a possible epitope sharing between the host and microbe, and identify a motif that mimics an antigenic structure such as that of dsDNA. Several studies have been conducted that have investigated the effectiveness of phage display in isolating autoantibody repertoires of autoantibodies against human epitopes. This allows the identification and design of antibody fragments (e.g., Fab, scFv, sdAb) that could block the binding of autoantibodies such as the deposition of IgG in the kidney and reduce the clinical signs of disease. In conclusion, phage display helps identify common epitopes and hotspot residues that can be potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. This leads to a better understanding of the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and the development of more specific therapeutic strategies.

Epitopes and Mimotopes Identification Using Phage Display for Vaccine Development against Infectious Pathogens

“…Analyzing the B- and T- cell responses in these individuals could assist in the development of future vaccines and therapeutics. Therefore, serum samples can be employed to screen phage display libraries, enabling the selection of epitopes suitable for inducing neutralizing antibodies [ 32 , 42 , 43 ]. By recognizing the epitopes involved in binding to target cells, these antibodies can effectively prevent the infection [ 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”