title: Sensitive detection of scrapie prion protein in soil.
abstract: Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders that are caused by infectious agents known as prions. Prions are composed primarily of the pathogenic prion protein isoform, PrP(Sc). Because significant levels of infectivity have been detected in excrement from animals infected with scrapie and chronic wasting disease, studies on the dynamics of PrP(Sc) levels in contaminated soil are needed to assess the possible horizontal transmission of prion diseases. Using protein misfolding cyclic amplification, we developed a sensitive detection method for scrapie PrP(Sc) that is mixed with soil. Our detection method has the advantage of not requiring extraction of PrP(Sc) from soil and could provide a sensitivity 1000 to 10,000 times higher than that obtained with an extraction-based method. In addition, we found that PrP(Sc) levels in experimentally contaminated agricultural soils declined to different extents over the course of a 6-month incubation period. Our method appears to be a very useful technique for monitoring PrP(Sc) levels in soil.
authors.affiliation: Soil Microbiology Research Team, National Agricultural Research Center, 3-1-1 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8666, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagaoka
authors.forename: Miyako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimozaki
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murayama
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Shirou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051379:Mice; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D017510:Protein Folding; D012608:Scrapie / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants