Development of fluorescence-conjugated islet-homing peptide using biopanning for targeted optical imaging of pancreatic islet

Visualization of pancreatic islet can provide important information for diagnosis and monitoring of pancreatic islets. By using phage display technology, here we newly identified four candidate peptide sequences with islet-homing property. In vitro binding assay showed that LSALPRT peptide had stronger affinity with islet cells than other candidates. Then this islet-homing peptide (IHP) was chemically conjugated with TAMRA fluorophore for near infrared (NIR) imaging of islet cells. This TMARA-IHP was strongly bound to islets in vitro, but also to cryo-sectioned slice of pancreas tissue ex vivo. Collectively, it would be a considerable potential as therapeutics or diagnostics in future studies.