The use of peptides that pick up prions: protection or poison?

Abstract

Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathy are a class of neurodegenerative disease that remain rare, but could potentially affect large numbers of people if the possibility of food-borne transmission is true. The disease involves the conversion of a normal brain glycoprotein into a protease resistant form that is difficult to break down. Specifically identifying this version of the protein has been an aim of current research, with the possibility that this could aid differential diagnosis of these diseases. Techniques that can rapidly detect the disease in post-mortem tissue are well-established, but a test that identifies the abnormal protein in tissues of live patients is an essential requirement for any potential treatment. Peptides offer a novel way of identifying the abnormal protein and could serve as potential tools for tasks related to diagnosis and treatment of prion diseases.