Aguzzi
Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Neuropathologie, Institut für » Prof. Dr. Adriano Aguzzi » Aguzzi
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Prion strain discrimination using luminscent conjugated polymers | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Prions, which cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, occur in multiple strains which may reflect conformational variability of PrPSc, a disease-associated, aggregated variant of the cellular protein PrPC. Here we utilize luminescent conjugated polymers (LCPs), which emit conformation-dependent fluorescence spectra, for characterization of prion strains. LCP reactivity and emission spectra of brain sections discriminated among four immunohistochemically indistinguishable, serially mouse-passaged prion strains derived from sheep scrapie, chronic wasting disease (CWD), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and mouse-adapted Rocky Mountain Laboratory scrapie prions. Furthermore, LCPs differentiated between field isolates of BSE and bovine amyloidotic spongiform encephalopathy, and identified non-congophilic deposits in prion-infected deer and sheep. Finally, fibrils with distinct morphologies generated from chemically identical recombinant PrP yielded unique LCP spectra, suggesting that spectral characteristic differences result from distinct supramolecular PrP structures. Therefore, LCPs may help in detecting structural differences among discrete protein aggregates and in linking protein conformational features with disease phenotypes. | ||||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | prion TSE strains LCP conformation amyloid | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Forschungskredit der Universität Zürich, Other Public Sources (e.g. Federal or Cantonal Agencies) |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Feb 2005 to Nov 2007 |