title: Real-time quaking-induced conversion: a highly sensitive assay for prion detection.
abstract: We recently developed a new in vitro amplification technology, designated "real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QUIC)", for detection of the abnormal form of prion protein (PrPSc) in easily accessible specimens such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). After assessment of more than 200 CSF specimens from Japanese and Australian patients, we found no instance of a false positive, and more than 80% accuracy for the correct diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Furthermore, the RT-QUIC can be applied to other prion diseases, including scrapie, chronic wasting disease (CWD), and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and is able to quantify prion seeding activity when combined with an end-point dilution of samples. These results indicate that the RT-QUIC, with its high sensitivity and specificity, will be of great use as an early, rapid and specific assay for prion diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan. atarashi@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ryuichiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Atarashi
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D002417:Cattle; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D018621:PrPC Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D034081:Wasting Disease, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D018621:PrPC Proteins