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Scripps scientists develop new tests that identify lethal prion strains quickly and accurately
December 05, 2007Findings will significantly accelerate prion research
One of the new in vitro tests, called the Standard Scrapie Cell Assay, measures prion infectivity levels in a highly accurate and extremely rapid way, producing results in less than two weeks. The second test, called the Cell Panel Assay, allows researchers to quickly distinguish between several prion strains in various cells lines. Using the new assays, the scientists were able to show that four different cell lines exhibited widely different responses to four different strains of the infectious protein particles.
The research is being published in an advanced online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of December 3, 2007.
"These new assays vastly accelerate the measurement of prion infectivity and the determination of those cell lines that are able to sustain high infection rates of some prion strains," said Sukhvir P. Mahal, an author of the study who is a senior staff scientist in the laboratory of Charles Weissmann, chair of the Scripps Florida Department of Infectology. "The current test, which takes anywhere from 150 to 250 days and involves large numbers of laboratory mice, is slow, imprecise, and expensive. Our new assays will replace the current mouse brain-bioassays."
The current method of measurement and identification involves injecting a prion-containing sample into the brains of mice and then waiting to see how long it takes for the animals to succumb to disease; the higher the prion level, the less time it takes for them to become lethally infected.
In contrast, the new Standard Scrapie Cell Assay is based on prion-susceptible cell lines. In the test, cells are exposed to prions and then the infected cells are identified and counted using automated imaging equipment.
A Unique Pathogen
Prions (the name stands for proteinaceous infectious particles) are unique infectious pathogens associated with some 15 different diseases, including Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ("mad cow") and its rare human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. Infectious prions, which are thought to consist mainly of an abnormally structured or misfolded protein, have the ability to reproduce, despite the fact that they contain no nucleic acid genome as do viruses or bacteria.
Mammalian cells normally produce what is known as cellular prion protein; during infection, the abnormal protein converts production of normal host prion protein to its infectious form. The full details of this process are still not understood.
Prions develop in distinct strains, initially characterized by incubation time and the pattern of brain damage that develops during infection. It is currently thought that strain-specific properties of prions are determined by the three-dimensional structure of the misfolded protein, although the amino acid sequence remains the same. During infection with a single type of prion, several different prion strains can be propagated indefinitely in a single host.
"Some cell lines can be persistently infected by prions and show preference for certain strains," Mahal said. "One intriguing finding of our new study is that a cell line's ability to replicate a particular prion strain is a trait that varies significantly among the members of the cell population-even sibling cell lines may show different relative susceptibilities to various prion strains."
This suggests that the capacity of a cell line to replicate a particular prion strain is controlled epigenetically without any changes to the DNA sequence, she said.
Another fascinating question raised by the study is how cells come to distinguish between prion strains; that is, between the various proteins that differ only in the way they are folded. The exact nature of that recognition process is now the target of a new Scripps Research study using the Cell Panel Assay.
Scripps Research Institute
"These new assays vastly accelerate the measurement of prion infectivity and the determination of those cell lines that are able to sustain high infection rates of some prion strains," said Sukhvir P. Mahal, an author of the study who is a senior staff scientist in the laboratory of Charles Weissmann, chair of the Scripps Florida Department of Infectology. "The current test, which takes anywhere from 150 to 250 days and involves large numbers of laboratory mice, is slow, imprecise, and expensive. Our new assays will replace the current mouse brain-bioassays."
The current method of measurement and identification involves injecting a prion-containing sample into the brains of mice and then waiting to see how long it takes for the animals to succumb to disease; the higher the prion level, the less time it takes for them to become lethally infected.
In contrast, the new Standard Scrapie Cell Assay is based on prion-susceptible cell lines. In the test, cells are exposed to prions and then the infected cells are identified and counted using automated imaging equipment.
A Unique Pathogen
Prions (the name stands for proteinaceous infectious particles) are unique infectious pathogens associated with some 15 different diseases, including Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ("mad cow") and its rare human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. Infectious prions, which are thought to consist mainly of an abnormally structured or misfolded protein, have the ability to reproduce, despite the fact that they contain no nucleic acid genome as do viruses or bacteria.
Mammalian cells normally produce what is known as cellular prion protein; during infection, the abnormal protein converts production of normal host prion protein to its infectious form. The full details of this process are still not understood.
Prions develop in distinct strains, initially characterized by incubation time and the pattern of brain damage that develops during infection. It is currently thought that strain-specific properties of prions are determined by the three-dimensional structure of the misfolded protein, although the amino acid sequence remains the same. During infection with a single type of prion, several different prion strains can be propagated indefinitely in a single host.
"Some cell lines can be persistently infected by prions and show preference for certain strains," Mahal said. "One intriguing finding of our new study is that a cell line's ability to replicate a particular prion strain is a trait that varies significantly among the members of the cell population-even sibling cell lines may show different relative susceptibilities to various prion strains."
This suggests that the capacity of a cell line to replicate a particular prion strain is controlled epigenetically without any changes to the DNA sequence, she said.
Another fascinating question raised by the study is how cells come to distinguish between prion strains; that is, between the various proteins that differ only in the way they are folded. The exact nature of that recognition process is now the target of a new Scripps Research study using the Cell Panel Assay.
Scripps Research Institute
Prion Current Events and Prion News RSSThe Protein Srebp2 Drives Cholesterol Formation in Prion-Infected Neuronal Cells Which May Promote Prion-Dependent Diseases
The regulating protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation, which prions need for their propagation, in prion-infected neuronal cells.
Prion study reveals first direct information about the protein's molecular structure
A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions.
U of T led research team uncovers evolutionary origins of prion disease gene
A University of Toronto-led team has uncovered the evolutionary ancestry of the prion gene, which may reveal new understandings of how the prion protein causes diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow disease."
Species barrier may protect macaques from chronic wasting disease
Data from an ongoing multi-year study suggest that people who consume deer and elk with chronic wasting disease (CWD) may be protected from infection by an inability of the CWD infectious agent to spread to people.
A Penny for Your Prions
North Carolina State University researchers have discovered a link between copper and the normal functioning of prion proteins, which are associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases such as Cruetzfeldt-Jakob in humans or "mad cow" disease in cattle.
Scripps Florida scientists devise accelerated method to determine infectious prion strainsScripps Florida scientists devise accelerated method to determine infectious prion strains
Current tests to identify specific strains of infectious prions, which cause a range of transmissible diseases (such as mad cow) in animals and humans, can take anywhere from six months to a year to yield results - a time-lag that may put human populations at risk.
Prevalence of variant CJD agent in Britain remains uncertain
First results from a large tissue survey in Britain of the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) are unable so far to establish that the prevalence is lower than that given by previous estimates, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.
Redefining what it means to be a prion
Whitehead Institute researchers have quintupled the number of identifiable prion proteins in yeast and have further clarified the role prions play in the inheritance of both beneficial and detrimental traits.
Iron is involved in prion disease-associated neuronal demise
Imbalance of iron homeostasis is a common feature of prion disease-affected human, mouse, and hamster brains, according to a new study by Dr. Neena Singh and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, alongside collaborators from Creighton University.
Prion discovery gives clue to control of mass gene expression
The discovery in common brewer's yeast of a new, infectious, misfolded protein -- or prion -- by University of Illinois at Chicago molecular biologists raises new questions about the roles played by these curious molecules, often associated with degenerative brain diseases like "mad cow" and its human counterpart, Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
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