title: Detection of cellular prion protein in exosomes  derived from ovine plasma.
abstract: Prion protein (PrP) is present at extremely low levels in the blood of animals and its detection is complicated by the poor sensitivity of current standard methodologies. Interesting results have been obtained with recent advanced technologies that are able to detect minute amounts of the pathological PrP (PrPSc), but their efficiency is reduced by various factors present in blood. In this study, we were able to extract cellular PrP (PrPC) from plasma-derived exosomes by a simple, fast method without the use of differential ultracentrifugation and to visualize it by Western blotting, reducing the presence of most plasma proteins. This result confirms that blood is capable of releasing PrP in association with exosomes and could be useful to better study its role in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berrone
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corona
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena Vallino
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Costassa
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica Lo
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Faro
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology and Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Properzi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guglielmetti
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maurella
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caramelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Biotechnology Center, University of Turin, Corso Dogliotti 14, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Deregibus
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Biotechnology Center, University of Turin, Corso Dogliotti 14, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Camussi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Casalone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D055354:Exosomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D011328:Prions / Q000097:blood*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D011328:Prions