title: Immunization delays the onset of prion disease in mice.
abstract: The outbreak of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has raised the specter of a potentially large population being at risk to develop this prionosis. None of the prionoses currently have an effective treatment. Recently, vaccination has been shown to be effective in mouse models of another neurodegenerative condition, namely Alzheimer's disease. Here we report that vaccination with recombinant mouse prion protein delays the onset of prion disease in mice. Vaccination was performed both before peripheral prion exposure and after exposure. A delay in disease onset was seen in both groups, but was more prolonged in animals immunized before exposure. The increase in the incubation period closely correlated with the anti-prion protein antibody titer. This promising finding suggests that a similar approach may work in humans or other mammalian species at risk for prion disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Einar M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sigurdsson
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kascsak
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kascsak
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carp
authors.forename: Harry C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Meeker
authors.forename: Blas
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frangione
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D007167:Immunotherapy; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D011328:Prions / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011328:Prions; D011994:Recombinant Proteins