Method for the detection of a pathogenic form of a prion protein

摘要

Method for the detection of a pathogenic form of a prion protein in a sample, comprising providing a container, pretreating the container to deposit on a surface of the container a coating of a cellulose derivative capable of favoring the binding of pathogenic prion protein to said container surface over the binding of cellular prion protein, incubating the sample in said container to bind any pathogenic prion protein present in the sample to said container surface, labelling the thus immobilized pathogenic prion protein, if present, with an appropriate labelling agent using an anti-prion antibody capable of binding to pathogenic prion protein and detecting the presence of labelling agent attached to the container surface. Coating a surface of a microtitre plate well with nitrocellulose allows to perform an ELISA for quantification of pathogenic prions in a suspected sample, especially after enzymatic digestion of the sample with an enzyme like proteinase K, by enhancing binding of pathogenic prions and/or reducing binding of cellular (non-pathogenic) prions.