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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Sensitive Detection of Prion Protein in Human Urine

Harash K. Narang^*,2, Ayuna Dagdanova, Zhiliang Xie, Qiwei Yang and Shu G. Chen^,1

^* BioTech Global, 22-40 Brentwood Avenue, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 3DH, UK; and Institute of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, 2085 Adelbert Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at ¹ Institute of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, 2085 Adelbert Road, Cleveland, OH 44106. E-mail: shu.chen{at}case.edu

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are a group of infectious diseases typically associated with the accumulation of a protease-resistant and ß-sheet–rich prion protein, PrP^Sc, in affected brains. PrP^Sc is an altered isoform derived from the host-encoded glycoprotein, PrP^C. The expression of PrP^C is the highest in brain tissue, but it can also be detected at low levels in peripheral tissue. However, it is unclear whether a significant amount of PrP^C is released into body fluid and excreted into urine. We have developed a simple, rapid method for the reliable detection of PrP^C in urine from normal subjects by Western blotting. Our method can easily and reliably detect PrP^C in apparently healthy individuals using less than 1 ml of urine in which the amount of urinary PrP^C is estimated to be in the range of low micrograms/liter.

Key Words: urine • prion protein • transmissible spongiform encephalopathies • bovine spongiform encephalopathy • Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

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