Characterization of a proteolytic enzyme derived from a Bacillus strain that effectively degrades prion protein

AIMS: The purpose of this paper was to screen candidate bacterial strains for the production of proteases suitable for application to the degradation of pathogenic forms of prion protein (PrP(Sc)). This paper describes the biochemical characteristics and proteolytic activity of the isolated protease. METHODS AND RESULTS: After screening more than 200 bacterial proteases for keratinolytic activity, we identified a Bacillus stain that produced a protease exhibiting high-degradation activity against a scrapie PrP(Sc). Sequence analysis indicated that this serine-protease belonged to the Subtilisin family and had optimum pH and temperature ranges of 9-10 and 60-70 degrees C. Western blotting analysis revealed that the protease was also capable of decomposing bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected brain homogenate. In addition, the protease was demonstrated to degrade dried PrP(Sc) that had become firmly attached to a plastic surface considerably more effectively than proteinase K or PWD-1, a previously reported keratinase. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the isolated protease exhibited higher activity for PrP(Sc) degradation compared with other proteases examined. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This protease could be used under moderate conditions for the decontamination of precision instruments that are susceptible to PrP(Sc) contamination.     

血S100B蛋白和尿乳酸/肌酐比值对门静脉高压症术后肝性脑病发生的早期预测价值

目的评价血S100B蛋白和尿乳酸/肌酐对乙肝肝硬化门脉高压症术后肝性脑病发生的早期预测价值。方法回顾性分析65例乙肝肝硬化门脉高压症患者的临床资料,动态检测术后24、48和72h的血S100B蛋白和尿乳酸/肌酐比值水平,根据是否发生术后肝性脑病将受试者分为肝性脑病组与非肝性脑病组,并对肝性脑病组患者进行临床分度。结果乙肝肝硬化门脉高压症患者术后发生肝性脑病组72h内血S100B蛋白含量和24 h内尿乳酸/肌酐比值水平明显高于非肝性脑病组(P<0.001);72h内血S100B蛋白含量和24 h内尿乳酸/肌酐比值之间及与肝性脑病的临床分度呈正相关(P<0.001);当血S100B水平在28ng/L,尿乳酸/肌酐比值在0.47时,单独检测72h血S100B蛋白的敏感度、特异度分别为91.2%、93.6%;尿乳酸/肌酐比值预测肝性脑病的敏感度和特异性度以术后24h最高,分别为89.3%和91.7%;如检测72h血S100B蛋白的同时监测术后24h尿乳酸/肌酐比值可显著提高肝性脑病诊断的准确性,联合应用两项指标进行检测,诊断的敏感度和特异度分别为95.7%和98.6%,较两种方法单独应用敏感度和特异度均提高。结论对门静脉高压症患者术后以临床表现为基础,同时监测72h内血S100B蛋白和24h尿乳酸/肌酐比值,对提高术后肝性脑病的早期诊断和临床分度具有一定应用价值。     

新生儿缺氧缺血性脑病血清S-100B蛋白与NBNA评分动态监测 的临床研究

目的:观察新生儿缺氧缺血性脑病(hypoxic-ischemicencephalopathy,HIE)血清S-100B蛋白的动态变化规律,探讨其在HIE早期诊断中的价值,以及其浓度变化与病情严重程度及预后的关系。同时研究围产期高危因素以及NBNA评分在HIE发生发展与预后中的作用。方法:30例住院正常新生儿作为对照组,于出生后采血,55例HIE患儿(HIE组)分别于出生后1天、2天、7天采血,采用酶联免疫吸附试验、双抗体夹心法检测。收集并分析两组围产期相关资料。HIE组并于采血同时进行NBNA评分。结果:(1)HIE患儿生后第一天与第二天血清S-100B蛋白浓度明显高于对照组(P<0.05),生后第七天轻度HIE与对照组比较没有统计意义,中、重度HIE与对照组比较有统计学意义。(2)生后第一天与第二天不同病情组HIE患儿NBNA评分相互比较差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05),第七天轻、中和重度患儿NBNA评分<35分的患儿分别占33.3%,47.1%,100%。结论:动态监测HIE患儿血清S-100B蛋白浓度和NBNA评分的变化,对HIE的早期诊断,严重程度的判断以及预后的估计有重要意义。     

Chronic exposure to ammonia induces isoform-selective alterations in the intracellular distribution and NMDA receptor-mediated translocation of protein kinase C in cerebellar neurons in culture

Hyperammonemia is responsible for most neurological alterations in patients with hepatic encephalopathy by mechanisms that remain unclear. Hyperammonemia alters phosphorylation of neuronal protein kinase C (PKC) substrates and impairs NMDA receptor-associated signal transduction. The aim of this work was to analyse the effects of hyperammonemia on the amount and intracellular distribution of PKC isoforms and on translocation of each isoform induced by NMDA receptor activation in cerebellar neurons. Chronic hyperammonemia alters differentially the intracellular distribution of PKC isoforms. The amount of all isoforms (except PKC zeta) was reduced (17-50%) in the particulate fraction. The contents of alpha, beta1, and epsilon isoforms decreased similarly in cytosol (65-78%) and membranes (66-83%), whereas gamma, delta, and theta; isoforms increased in cytosol but decreased in membranes, and zeta isoform increased in membranes and decreased in cytosol. Chronic hyperammonemia also affects differentially NMDA-induced translocation of PKC isoforms. NMDA-induced translocation of PKC alpha and beta is prevented by ammonia, whereas PKC gamma, delta, epsilon, or theta; translocation is not affected. Inhibition of phospholipase C did not affect PKC alpha translocation but reduced significantly PKC gamma translocation, indicating that NMDA-induced translocation of PKC alpha is mediated by Ca2+, whereas PKC gamma translocation is mediated by diacylglycerol. Chronic hyperammonemia reduces Ca+2-mediated but not diacylglycerol-mediated translocation of PKC isoforms induced by NMDA.     

Frequencies of PrP gene haplotypes in British sheep flocks and the implications for breeding programmes

AIMS: To analyse the frequencies of prion (PrP) gene haplotypes in UK sheep flocks and evaluate their relevance to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) and TSE resistance breeding programmes in sheep. METHODS AND RESULTS: Genomic DNA isolated from sheep blood was PCR amplified for the coding region of the PrP gene and then sequenced. This study has analysed the sequence of PrP between codons 110 and 245 in 6287 ARQ haplotypes revealing a total of eight variant sequences, which represent a higher than expected 41% of all ARQ haplotypes. The additional PrP gene dimorphisms were M112T, L141F, M137T, H143R, H151C, P168L, Q175E and P241S. CONCLUSION: The results do not suggest a correlation between the occurrence of a specific ARQ haplotype and the scrapie disease status of a flock. The ARQ haplotype variability appears to be different in the UK sheep flocks compared with sheep flocks from outside the UK. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Additional PrP dimorphisms may impact on the methodologies used for standard PrP genotyping in sheep breeding programmes. Some of these polymorphisms were found with significant frequencies in the UK sheep flocks and should therefore be considered in breeding programmes.     

An unusual soluble beta-turn-rich conformation of prion is involved in fibril formation and toxic to neuronal cells

A key molecular event in prion diseases is the conversion of the prion protein (PrP) from its normal cellular form (PrPC) to the disease-specific form (PrPSc). The transition from PrPC to PrPSc involves a major conformational change, resulting in amorphous protein aggregates and fibrillar amyloid deposits with increased beta-sheet structure. Using recombinant PrP refolded into a beta-sheet-rich form (beta-PrP) we have studied the fibrillization of beta-PrP both in solution and in association with raft membranes. In low ionic strength thick dense fibrils form large networks, which coexist with amorphous aggregates. High ionic strength results in less compact fibrils, that assemble in large sheets packed with globular PrP particles, resembling diffuse aggregates found in ex vivo preparations of PrPSc. Here we report on the finding of a beta-turn-rich conformation involved in prion fibrillization that is toxic to neuronal cells in culture. This is the first account of an intermediate in prion fibril formation that is toxic to neuronal cells. We propose that this unusual beta-turn-rich form of PrP may be a precursor of PrPSc and a candidate for the neurotoxic molecule in prion pathogenesis.     

How was the French BSE epidemic underestimated?

In a previous study, we showed that estimates of the BSE epidemic in France were censored by cattle mortality and by a lack of diagnosis. Indeed, we estimated that 51 300 cattle were infected by the BSE agent between 1987 and 1997, whereas only 103 clinical BSE cases were detected by the passive surveillance system up to June 2000. The question thus arises as to the part played by each form of censorship in this underestimation. Here, using an updated cattle survival distribution, we estimated that 44 800 cattle were infected by the BSE agent between 1987 and 1997, and that 7100 of them showed clinical signs of BSE up to June 2000, showing the low efficiency of the surveillance system. Moreover, between 2087 and 5980 'infectious' cattle, with clinical or preclinical BSE, entered the human food chain before July 1996, the date of the ban on specified bovine offal.     

Prion Interaction with the 37-kDa/67-kDa Laminin Receptor on Enterocytes as a Cellular Model for Intestinal Uptake of Prions

Enterocytes, a major cell population of the intestinal epithelium, represent one possible barrier to the entry of prions after oral exposure. We established a cell culture system employing enterocytes from different species to study alimentary prion interaction with the 37-kDa/67-kDa laminin receptor LRP/LR. Human, bovine, porcine, ovine, and cervid enterocytes were cocultured with brain homogenates from cervid, sheep, and cattle suffering from chronic wasting disease (CWD), scrapie, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), respectively. PrP^CWD, ovine PrP^Sc, and PrP^BSE all colocalized with LRP/LR on human enterocytes. PrP^CWD failed to colocalize with LRP/LR on bovine, porcine, and ovine enterocytes. Ovine PrP^Sc colocalized with the receptor on bovine enterocytes, but failed to colocalize with LRP/LR on cervid and porcine enterocytes. PrP^BSE failed to colocalize with the receptor on cervid and ovine enterocytes. These data suggest possible oral transmissibility of CWD and sheep scrapie to humans and may confirm the oral transmissibility of BSE to humans, resulting in zoonotic variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. CWD might not be transmissible to cattle, pigs, and sheep. Sheep scrapie might have caused BSE, but may not cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in cervids and pigs. BSE may not be transmissible to cervids. Our data recommend the enterocyte model system for further investigations of the intestinal pathophysiology of alimentary prion infections.     

Extended scrapie incubation time in goats singly heterozygous for PRNP S146 or K222

Scrapie is the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of sheep and goats, and scrapie eradication in sheep is based in part on strong genetic resistance to classical scrapie. Goats may serve as a scrapie reservoir, and to date there has been no experimental inoculation confirming strong genetic resistance in goats. Two prion protein variants (amino acid substitutions S146 and K222) in goats have been significantly underrepresented in scrapie cases though present in scrapie-exposed flocks, and have demonstrated low cell-free protein conversion efficiency to the disease form (PrP(D)). To test degree of genetic resistance conferred in live animals with consistent exposure, we performed the first oral scrapie challenge of goats singly heterozygous for either PRNP S146 or K222. All N146-Q222 homozygotes became clinically scrapie positive by an average of 24months, but all S146 and K222 heterozygotes remain scrapie negative by both rectal biopsy and clinical signs at significantly longer incubation times (P<0.0001 for both comparisons). Recent reports indicate small numbers of S146 and K222 heterozygous goats have become naturally infected with scrapie, suggesting these alleles do not confer complete resistance in the heterozygous state but rather extend incubation. The oral challenge results presented here confirm extended incubation observed in a recent intracerebral challenge of K222 heterozygotes, and to our knowledge provide the first demonstration of extended incubation in S146 heterozygotes. These results suggest longer relevant trace-back histories in scrapie-eradication programs for animals bearing these alleles and strengthen the case for additional challenge experiments in both homozygotes to assess potential scrapie resistance.