National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH)

Topics in Animal Health Research 2013

13. Nucleic acids are necessary for the conversion of normal prion protein into abnormal prion protein

Japanese

Host cofactors are known to be necessary for the conversion of normal prion protein (PrPC) into abnormal prion protein (PrPSc), but not all of these cofactors have yet been identified. We recently revealed that PrPSc can be amplified in vitro using a protein misfolding cyclic amplification technique (PMCA) with baculovirus-recombinant prion protein (Bac-PrP). In this study, we tried to identify the cofactors required for PrPSc conversion using a modified PMCA method. The amplification efficiency of Bac-PrPSc was affected by nuclease treatment, and an improvement in amplification efficiency was observed after the addition of synthetic poly A or plasmid DNA to the treated reaction mixture. These results suggest that both RNA and DNA are involved in Bac-PrPSc amplification.
(Influenza Prion Disease Research Center)

References:

Imamura M. et al (2013) PLoS One 8(12):e82538

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