Physical Characterization of a Highly Infectious Monodisperse Preparation of TSE Infectivity as a Substrate for Diagnostic Development

摘要

Purification and characterization of the infectious agent that causes transmissible spongiform encephalopathies would be a breakthrough in the development of diagnostic tests and treatments for the victims of these fatal neurological diseases. Using a preparation of highly dispersed, nanofiltered scrapie infected brain homogenate, we have developed an ultracentrifugation procedure for the purification of dispersed, small infectious particles. The design of this protocol was guided by our determinations of the buoyant density and sedimentation constant of scrapie infectivity and its only known marker, PrPres. We are actively pursuing scaled up pathways to achieve the original plan of this project, which is to use buoyant density, sedimentation rate, and other biochemical characteristics to concentrate, purify, and study the scrapie infectious agent.