METHOD OF DETERMINING PRION STRAIN

摘要

The present invention provides assays for identifying the levels of both protease sensitie and protease resistant conformers of PrPSc in a sample. In a preferred embodiment, the assay comprises determining levels of total PrPSc in a sample, subjecting the PrPSc fraction to treatment with a protease that selectively hydrolyzes the protease snesitive PrPSc (sPrPSc) conformers, and quantifying the elvels of sPrPSc in the sample. The ability to detect sPrPSc allows early detection of prions, since the PrPSc in easily accessible biological samples such as blood is predominantly sPrPSc. The ratio of sPrPS c to rPrpSc also allows the identification of a particular prion strain in an infected sample.