Diagnosis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy

摘要

The invention features a method of diagnosing or providing a prognosis regarding the state of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) in a mammal by contacting a target tissue or other environmental sample with a detectable compound, which binds to a non-amyloid form of a disease specific prion (PrP-d). An increase in binding of the compound to the target tissue or environmental sample compared to a normal control level of binding indicates that the mammal is suffering from or is at risk of developing TSE, or that the sample is contaminated with TSE-infected material.