Phage-displayed peptides that mimic zearalenone and its application in immunoassay

Monoclonal antibody 7G5 (McAb 7G5), which recognises the zearalenone (ZEN), was used to select for peptides that mimic the ZEN by employing a library of filamentous phages that have 7-mer peptides on their surfaces. After three rounds of panning, two mimotope peptides were obtained to be able to mimic ZEN in binding with the McAb 7G5, their amino acid sequences were DAVILLM and HHCHWWH. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detect ZEN was established with the phages. In the most sensitive assay, the linear range of the inhibition curve was 100–10,000 pg/ml, the detection limit was 100 pg/ml. The results demonstrated that those phage peptides could be used as the surrogate of ZEN to establish the immunoassay.