Identification of phosphopeptide ligands for the Src-homology 2 (SH2) domain of Grb2 by phage display

We report here on the identification of phosphopeptide ligands which interact with the Src-homology 2 (SH2) domain of the adapter protein Grb2 by screening a random peptide library established on phage. Phage were phosphorylated in vitro at an invariant tyrosine residue by a mixture of phosphotyrosine kinases c-Src, Blk and Syk. Selection of binding motifs was carried out by interaction of the library with the recombinant SH2 domain of Grb2 expressed as a glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion protein. Several subsequent cycles of selection led to the enrichment of phage which bound to the GST-Grb2 SH2 domain only when previously phosphorylated. Sequence analysis revealed that all of the selected phage displayed peptides with the consensus motif Y*M/ENW (Y* denotes phosphotyrosine). One of these peptides, bearing the Y*ENW motif, bound the Grb2 SH2 domain with a threefold higher affinity than the peptide motif Y*VNV derived from the natural ligand She. Thus, phage display can be employed to rapidly identify high affinity ligands to SH2 domains.