A single prion protein peptide can elicit a panel of isoform specific monoclonal antibodies.
The main step in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) is the conformational change of the normal cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) into the abnormal isoform, named prion (PrP(Sc)). Since PrP is a highly conserved protein, the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) of high specificity and affinity to PrP is a difficult task. In the present study we show that it is possible to overcome the unresponsiveness of the immune system by immunizing wild-type BALB/c mice with a 13 amino acid PrP peptide from the C-terminal part of PrP, bound to the keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). Immunization induced predominantly anti-PrP(Sc) humoral immune response. Furthermore, we were able to obtain a panel of mAbs of IgG class specific for different non-self-conformations of PrP, with anti-PrP(Sc)-specific mAbs being the most abundant.
Vranac
Tanja
T
Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia, Slajmerjeva 6, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Hartman
Katrina Pretnar
KP
Popović
Mara
M
Venturini
Anja
A
Zerovnik
Eva
E
Curin Serbec
Vladka
V
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000276:immunology; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D011328:Prions / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D010455:Peptides; D011328:Prions