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BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

Preclinical diagnosis of prion disease

Awarded: NOK 7.0 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

178268

Application Type:

Project Period:

2007 - 2012

Funding received from:

Location:

Partner countries:

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a threat to food safety and to human and animal health. Diagnosis of these diseases and early detection of the infective agent is vital for future spread and prevention of disease. The identification of candidate molecules as biomarkers of preclinical disease is a major objective in this project. The molecular mechanisms responsible for these prion diseases share similarities with a wider group of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimers and Par kinsons diseases, and the central pathological event is a disturbance of protein folding of a normal cellular protein that is eventually accompanied by neuronal cell death and the death of the host. The quest for a pre-clinical blood screening test for TS E and similar diseases is a hot topic (Brown 2006). In this project, we will use blood (serum and white blood cells, WBC) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from sheep experimentally infected with scrapie and killed at various stages of infection, to explore t he possibilities of diagnosing the prion disease at an early preclinical stage. We will be using modern technology (proteomics, multivariat analyses, immonoPCR, WB, other) in cooperation with national and foreign partners. Pilot experiments already perfo rmed are promising.

Funding scheme:

BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram