  Multibillion-clone landscape phage display libraries were prepared by the
fusion of the phage major coat protein pVIII with foreign random peptides.
Phage particles and their proteins specific for cancer and bacterial cells were
selected from the landscape libraries and exploited as molecular recognition
interfaces in detection, gene- and drug-delivery systems. The biorecognition
interfaces were obtained by incorporation of the cell-specific phage fusion
proteins into liposomes using intrinsic structural duplicity of the proteins.
As a paradigm, we incorporated targeted pVIII proteins into commercially
available therapeutic liposomes "Doxil", which acquired a new emergent
property-ability to bind target receptors. Targeting of the drug was evidenced
by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, microarray, optical and electron
microscopy. In contrast to a poorly controllable conjugation targeting, the new
landscape phage-based approach relies on very powerful and extremely precise
mechanisms of selection, biosynthesis and self assembly, in which phages
themselves serve as a source of the final product.
