title: Diagnosing prion diseases: needs, challenges and hopes.
abstract: Prion diseases are among the most intriguing infectious diseases and are associated with unconventional proteinaceous infectious agents known as prions. Prions seem to lack nucleic acid and propagate by transmission of protein misfolding. The nature of prions and their unique mode of transmission present challenges for early diagnosis of prion diseases. In this article, state-of-the-art prion diagnostic techniques, together with the new strategies that are being used to develop sensitive, early and non-invasive diagnoses for these diseases are reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas 77555-0646, USA. clsoto@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000635:transmission; D017510:Protein Folding
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins