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Review
. 2014 Sep 7;20(33):11671-83.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i33.11671.

Bacteriophages and their applications in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B virus infection

Babak Bakhshinejad  1 , Majid Sadeghizadeh  1
Affiliations
Review

Bacteriophages and their applications in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B virus infection

Babak Bakhshinejad et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global health challenge leading to serious disorders such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, there exist various diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for HBV infection. However, prevalence and hazardous effects of chronic viral infection heighten the need to develop novel methodologies for the detection and treatment of this infection. Bacteriophages, viruses that specifically infect bacterial cells, with a long-established tradition in molecular biology and biotechnology have recently been introduced as novel tools for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HBV infection. Bacteriophages, due to tremendous genetic flexibility, represent potential to undergo a huge variety of surface modifications. This property has been the rationale behind introduction of phage display concept. This powerful approach, together with combinatorial chemistry, has shaped the concept of phage display libraries with diverse applications for the detection and therapy of HBV infection. This review aims to offer an insightful overview of the potential of bacteriophages in the development of helpful prophylactic (vaccine design), diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for HBV infection thereby providing new perspectives to the growing field of bacteriophage researches directing towards HBV infection.

Keywords: Bacteriophage; Biopanning; Diagnosis; Hepatitis B virus; Phage display; Phage library; Treatment; Vaccine development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Various potentials of bacteriophages for hepatitis B virus infection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cell-specific targeting of bacteriophages. Attachment of a ligand, with specific binding ability to a receptor on the surface of target cell, leads to targeted delivery of bacteriophage to the cell of interest. This ligand is fused to one of the phage coat proteins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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