scrapie/protease

OBJECTIVE To study the possible effect of tetracycline on protease-resistant activity in vitro and infectivity in vivo of a scrapie strain 263K. METHODS Scrapie pathogens were incubated with tetracycline at different concentrations for various periods of time and protease-resistant PrP signals were

The pathological prion protein PrP(Sc) is the only known component of the infectious prion. In cells infected with prions, PrP(Sc) is formed posttranslationally by the refolding of the benign cell surface glycoprotein PrP(C) into an aberrant conformation. The two PrP isoforms possess very different

Dendritic cells (DC) of the CD11c(+) myeloid phenotype have been implicated in the spread of scrapie in the host. Previously, we have shown that CD11c(+) DC can cause a rapid degradation of proteinase K-resistant prion proteins (PrP(Sc)) in vitro, indicating a possible role of these cells in the

In prion diseases, metal imbalances in brain and/or metal substitutions for copper in prion protein suggest that metal-catalyzed oxidation (MCO) and oxidative stress may affect cellular function and accumulation of protease-resistant prion protein (PrP(Sc)). We examined the effect of metal-induced

Accumulation of PrP(Sc), an insoluble and protease-resistant pathogenic isoform of the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)), is a hallmark in prion diseases. Branched polyamines, including PPI (poly(propylene imine)) dendrimers, are able to remove protease resistant PrP(Sc) and abolish infectivity,

An efficient Escherichia coli expression system for the production of mature-type alkaline serine protease II (mASP II) has been constructed. Complementary deoxyribonucleic acid-encoding mASP II was inserted into the inducible bacterial expression vector pGE-30. After introduction into E. coli, the

Scrapie is the best understood of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. These neurologic disorders include the human diseases kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and are caused by pathogens with unique biological and molecular properties. One major protein, protease-resistant protein

The mode and the site of action of the major antiscrapie drugs have been studied by investigating their effects on the abnormal protease-resistant isoform of PrP (PrPres) and on its accumulation in mouse spleen. Day-by-day PrPres accumulation in the spleen and in other peripheral organs was first

BACKGROUND Prions, the causative agents of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are notoriously difficult to inactivate. Current decontamination recommendations by the World Health Organization include prolonged exposure to 1 N sodium hydroxide or > 20,000 ppm sodium hypochlorite, or

The existence of different strains of infectious agents involved in scrapie, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of sheep and goats, remains poorly explained. These strains can, however, be differentiated by characteristics of the disease in mice and also by the molecular features of the

Prions are infectious agents involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cows and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. These pathogens are characterized by unusual properties, and, in particular, by their strong

The scrapie agent has been propagated in vitro in mouse neuroblastoma cells. To further characterize the tissue culture-derived scrapie agent, we studied the effects of protease and nuclease digestion on the agent derived from these cells. The scrapie agent in these cells was found to be resistant

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases are characterized by the accumulation in brain of an abnormal protease-resistant form of the host-encoded prion protein (PrP), PrP-res. PrP-res conformation differs among TSE agents derived from various sources, and these conformational

Tubulofilamentous particles and scrapie-associated fibrils (SAF) are ultrastructural markers, while protease-resistant protein (PrP) is a molecular biological marker for all spongiform encephalopathies. Review of all published work has suggested that PrP molecules aggregate to form a

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurodegenerative diseases. A primary therapeutic target for TSE intervention has been a protease-resistant form of prion protein known as PrP(Sc) or PrP-res. In vitro testing of mouse scrapie-infected cell cultures has identified many