NR ATGQ
AU Grassi,J.; Morel,N.; Simon,S.; Feraudet,C.; Boutal,H.; Volland,H.; Frobert,Y.; Creminon,C.
TI The use of anti-PrP antibodies for the diagnosis and therapy of prion diseases
QU International Conference - Prion 2005: Between fundamentals and society's needs - 19.10.-21.10.2005, Congress Center Düsseldorf - Oral sessions ORAL-47
PT Konferenz-Vortrag
AB
Antibodies and immunological techniques play a very important role in every field of biology and medicine for more than sixty years. They proved to be even more important in the field of prion diseases because these are essentially "protein related" diseases and because no specific nucleic acid sequences have been identified for prions. As a consequence and given the pivotal role played by the prion protein (PrP) in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) the identification and characterization of the different forms of PrP (including those associated with infectivity) represent a major part of research activity in this field and mainly rely on antibody based techniques. This explains why the diagnosis of TSEs is almost exclusively achieved through immunological techniques. In addition, a large set of evidence has now been accumulated demonstrating that anti-PrP antibodies can be very useful in TSE therapy using both active and passive strategies. It is worth noting however that TSEs have a difficult relationship with the immune system as shown by the absence of a specific immune answer in TSE infections and by the poor immunogenicity of PrP due to the high conservation of PrP sequences through mammalian species.
In this presentation, we shall discuss some specific difficulties linked to the production and characterization of anti-PrP antibodies and will address the following points:
- inter species cross reactivity
- problems linked to the polymorphism of PrP
- the challenge of producing antibodies specifically recognizing PrPsc
All these points will be illustrated by relevant examples taken from our experience in developing diagnostic tests and immunotherapeutic approaches for TSEs.
AD J.Grassi, N.Morel, S.Simon, C.Féraudet, H.Boutal, H.Volland, Y.Frobert, C.Créminon, CEA, Service de Pharmacology et d'immunologie, Département de Recherche Médicinale, batiment 136, CEA/Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette cedex, France
SP englisch
PO Deutschland