NR AXUR
AU Polano,M.; Leita,L.; De Nobili,M.; Anselmi,C.
TI Can Humic Substances Deactivate Prions?
QU International Conference - Prion 2007 (26.-28.9.2007) Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK - Book of Abstracts: Epidemiology, Risk Assessment and Transmission P04.06
IA http://www.prion2007.com/pdf/Prion Book of Abstracts.pdf
PT Konferenz-Poster
AB
Prion diseases, also knows as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), of sheep and elks have been shown to be transmittable via contaminated environments besides contacts with carcasses and placentas, for animals giving birth in the wild, the infectious agent must therefore be excreted and/or secreted. However, only recently prions (PrPsc) have been detected in blood, saliva and excreta of infected animals. Prion proteins have a high affinity for soil components and infectivity persists in soil for a long time. However, within the large spread of potentially infected lands, TSEs have become endemic only in geographically limited regions. Reasons for this remain unknown.
Humic substances, the organic residue of decaying organic matter, have been the subject of numerous scientific studies due to their ability to bind contaminants and therefore strongly affect their immobilization or mobility. These substances of both aquatic and terrestrial origin strongly interact with prion proteins and can therefore affect their behaviour in the environment.
As the infectivity of prions is dependent on a conformational change of the cellular form of the prion protein (PrPc), which acquires proteinase resistance and selfpropagation upon conversion to PrPsc, potential interaction with substances able to cause conformational changes could either favour or reduce infectivity.
In this work we investigated the interactions among full length recombinant murine (PrP23-231) and IHSS standard soil and river humic and fulvic acids (International Humic Substances Society Standard HA and FA) with clay and organic substances. The aim of this work is to cast light on the role of organic matter, in particular humic substances (HS), in the fate of prion proteins in the soil. Studies focusing only on the effects of clays limits our knowledge about the spread of TSEs in the environment, as they completely neglect one of the most reactive components of soil and are, therefore, not representative of the actual situation. In this work, we show that HS are important for the fate of the prion in soil, enhancing the complexant capacity of the latter, even if it is not clear if this raises or lower the prion infectivity.
AD M. Polano, M. De Nobili, Università di Udine, Italy; L. Leita, C.R.A., Italy; C. Anselmi, SISSA, Sector of Statistical Biophysics, Italy
SP englisch
PO Schottland