Discovery and Application of Peptides Specific for Acute Myelogenous Leukemic Cells

Yulia Katzman, Chemical Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
Michael Firer, Chemical Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) refers to a group of diseases with considerable diversity in molecular pathogenesis and clinical outcomes, in which hematopoietic progenitor cells disturb the normal mechanisms of cell growth, proliferation and differentiation. The basic therapeutic approach to patients with AML has changed little over the last 20 years. The management of patients with AML remains a major challenge, especially in elderly patients, where intensive therapy is associated with a high toxicity, a low remission rate and a median survival of only seven months. To overcome these challenges, we aimed to use peptide phage display libraries to discover peptides that are specifically internalized by patients’ AML cells. These peptides would be used to prepare Peptide-Drug-Conjugates (PDCs) for targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs in the cancer cells.
Phage were exposed to 5 different cell lines, which represent the pathological spectrum of AML. We used NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) to delineate peptide sequences. Selected peptides were synthesized and their ability to target AML cell was validated. We are now testing the potential of this peptides to act as drug carriers for targeted destraction of AML cells.