Monoclonal antibodies against the major coat protein of filamentous phage as a useful analytical tool for bacteriophage peptide/protein display

Four mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that react with filamentous M13KO7 and R408 phage were obtained. Three of these MAbs (two IgG(2a) and one IgG(3)) recognize linear sequences of the p8 main structural coat protein, and one (IgG(2a)) identifies a putatively conformational epitope, as suggested by Western blot. These MAbs also react with recombinant phage expressing peptide antigens fused to p8, and are though useful reagents for peptide/protein phage display screening based methods. The latter was shown in an enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) and a visual immunoassay where one of the anti-p8 MAbs was used to capture recombinant phages displaying a peptide characteristic of the Hepatitis B virus surface antigen or a Dengue virus-related peptide antigen.