RNA Found to Stimulate Prion Conversion

A recent study found that a specific species of RNA was required for normal prion protein (PrPC) to convert to the pathogenic scrapie (PrPSc) form that is responsible for such diseases as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Cruetzfeld-Jakob disease.

Investigators at Dartmouth Medical School (Hanover, NH, USA; www.dartmouth.edu) worked with an in vitro method to show that stoichiometric transformation of PrPC to PrPSc required specific RNA molecules. Furthermore, whereas mammalian RNA preparations stimulated amplification of PrPSc, RNA preparations from invertebrate species did not. Addition of RNA-cleavage enzymes inhibited amplification, which could be re-established by supplementing with whole RNA. These findings were published in the October 16, 2003, issue of Nature.

"This stimulatory RNA appears to be a specific one, which makes it exciting to study. If we can identify, clone, and produce this specific RNA, it may be useful as a therapeutic target or a diagnostic tool. In addition, it may offer clues to the mechanism of conversion,” said senior author Dr. Surachai Supattapone, assistant professor of biochemistry and medicine at Dartmouth University.




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