title: Complementary hydropathy identifies a cellular prion protein receptor.
abstract: Prions, the etiological agents for infectious degenerative encephalopathies, act by entering the cell and inducing conformational changes in PrPC (a normal cell membrane sialoglycoprotein), which result in cell death. A specific cell-surface receptor to mediate PrPC and prion endocytosis has been predicted. Complementary hydropathy let us generate a hypothetical peptide mimicking the receptor binding site. Antibodies raised against this peptide stain the surface of mouse neurons and recognize a 66-kDa membrane protein that binds PrPC both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, both the complementary prion peptide and antiserum against it inhibit the toxicity of a prion-derived peptide toward neuronal cells in culture. Such reagents might therefore have therapeutic applications.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Antônio Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Graner
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Abreu
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Mercadante
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Veiga
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zanata
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Brentani
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D018621:PrPC Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D018621:PrPC Proteins; C109541:PrPC receptor; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface