Lo A.CHIN-TARNG LINWu H.-C.2022-03-042022-03-0420081535-7163https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-41649119539&doi=10.1158%2f1535-7163.MCT-07-2359&partnerID=40&md5=6ad173a13628b055508db4bd708bcdd7https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/596356Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Novel treatment strategies derived from increased knowledge of molecular oncology are constantly being developed to cure this disease. Here, we used phage display to identify a novel peptide (SP94), which binds specifically to hepatocellular carcinoma cells. In vitro, the phage clone PC94 was shown to bind to hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines by ELISA and flow cytometry analysis. In vivo, PC94 homed specifically to tumor tissues but not to normal visceral organs in severe combined immunodeficient mice bearing human hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts. This homing ability could be competitively inhibited by synthetic peptide, SP94. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed that PC94 localized to tumor tissues and that it could not be detected in SP94-competed tumor tissues. In addition, PC94 recognized the tumor tissue but not nontumor tissue in surgical specimens from hepatocellular carcinoma patients, with a positive rate of 61.3% (19 of 31). With the conjugation of SP94 and liposomal doxorubicin, the targeted drug delivery system enhanced the therapeutic efficacy against hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts through enhanced tumor apoptosis and decreased tumor angiogenesis. Our results indicate that SP94 has the potential to improve the systemic treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Copyright ? 2008 American Association for Cancer Research.[SDGs]SDG3doxorubicin; ligand; sp 94 protein; synthetic peptide; unclassified drug; angiogenesis; animal behavior; animal cell; animal model; animal tissue; apoptosis; article; cancer patient; cancer therapy; carcinoma cell; cell line; combined immunodeficiency; conjugation; controlled study; drug delivery system; drug inhibition; enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; flow cytometry; human; human tissue; immunohistochemistry; in vitro study; in vivo study; liver cell carcinoma; molecular cloning; mouse; nonhuman; organ; phage display; priority journal; protein binding; protein localization; systemic therapy; therapy effect; xenograft; Animals; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Cell Line, Tumor; Drug Delivery Systems; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Ligands; Liver Neoplasms; Mice; Mice, SCID; Peptidesjournal article10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-07-2359183471442-s2.0-41649119539