A Comparison of RML Prion Inactivation Efficiency by Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Photocatalysis

• Published in: Pathogens (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 5; p. 420
• Main Authors: Paspaltsis, Ioannis, Kanata, Eirini, Sotiriadis, Sotirios, Correia, Susana Silva, Schmitz, Matthias, Zerr, Inga, Dafou, Dimitra, Xanthopoulos, Konstantinos, Sklaviadis, Theodoros
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Amino acids; Antibodies; Bioassays; Brain; Care and treatment; Causes of; Chronic wasting disease; Contamination; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; Deactivation; Experiments; Food contamination & poisoning; Health services; heterogeneous photocatalysis; homogeneous photocatalysis; Hydrogen peroxide; Inactivation; Infectivity; Laboratories; Oxidation; photo-Fenton reagent; Photocatalysis; Phototherapy; prion inactivation; Prion protein; Prions; Proteins; Reagents; Risk reduction; RML prion; Scrapie; Sodium; Therapeutics, Experimental; TiO2 photocatalysis; Titanium dioxide; Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy; Greece; United States > US; Germany; homogeneous photocatalysis; heterogeneous photocatalysis; TiO2 photocatalysis; photo-Fenton reagent; prion decontamination; RML prion; prion inactivation
• ISSN: 2076-0817; 2076-0817
• DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13050420

Prions are proteinaceous pathogens responsible for a variety of devastating diseases in mammals, including scrapie in sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease in cervids, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. They are characterized by their exceptional persistence to common inactivation procedures. This applies to all possible sources of prion contamination as prions may be present in the tissues and biological fluids of infected individuals. Hence, efficient prion inactivation procedures are still being sought to minimize the risk of intra- or inter-species transmission. In the past, photocatalytic treatment has been proven to be capable of efficiently oxidizing and inactivating prions. In the present study, the efficacy of homogeneous photo-Fenton-based photocatalysis as well as heterogeneous photocatalysis with TiO in reducing RML mouse scrapie infectivity was evaluated. Prion inactivation was assessed by means of a bioassay, and the results were confirmed by in vitro experiments. While the prion infectivity of the RML mouse scrapie was reduced after treatment with the photo-Fenton reagent, the heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment of the same prion strain completely eliminated prion infectivity.