Anti-prion antibodies for prophylaxis following prion exposure in mice

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 336; no. 3; pp. 185 - 187
• Main Authors: Sigurdsson, Einar M., Sy, Man-Sun, Li, Ruliang, Scholtzova, Henrieta, Kascsak, Richard J., Kascsak, Regina, Carp, Richard, Meeker, Harry C., Frangione, Blas, Wisniewski, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 23.01.2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Antibodies, Monoclonal - administration & dosage; Antibodies, Monoclonal - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome - immunology; Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome - therapy; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Immunomodulators; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Passive immunization; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prion; Prion Diseases - immunology; Prion Diseases - therapy; Prions - immunology; PrPC Proteins - immunology; PrPSc Proteins - immunology; Scrapie - immunology; Scrapie - therapy; Treatment; Vaccination; Antibodies; Prion; Treatment; Passive immunization; Vaccination; Antibody; Rodentia; Prevention; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mouse; Animal; Immunotherapy; Immune system
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(02)01192-8

Prion disease is characterized by a conformational change of the normal form of the prion protein (PrP C) to the scrapie-associated form (PrP Sc). Since the emergence of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease a potentially large human population is at risk for developing prion disease. Currently, no effective treatment or form of post-exposure prophylaxis is available for prion disease. We recently showed that active immunization with recombinant PrP prolongs the incubation period of scrapie. Here we show that anti-PrP antibodies following prion exposure are effective at increasing the incubation period of the infection. Stimulation of the immune system is an important therapeutic target for the prion diseases, as well as for other neurodegenerative illnesses characterized by abnormal protein conformation.