IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDY OF SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES

Abstract

Spongiform encephalopathies, categorized as a subclass of neuro-degenerative diseases and commonly known as prion diseases, are a group of progressive conditions that affect the brain and nervous system of many animals, including humans. Prion diseases are common among cannibalistic communities; further research has revealed that the infected or malformed prion protein (named PrPsc) spreads its virulence to the normal, healthy prion protein (named PrPc) when people consume infected tissues. Knowing that a small interaction between normal and infected prion protein creates virulence, this relationship can be studied as a simple antigen-antibody interaction to understand the series of events that transform a normal prion protein into a virulent misfolded protein. Thoroughly modeled and validated structures of both PrPsc and PrPc can be effectively used to map the epitopes and thereby screen the antigen-antibody interaction using docking studies for a particular organism of concern. This simple immunological approach is used to understand the vital interaction between the normal and  malformed  proteins that  is involved  in  the disease-spreading mechanism. Clarification of this mechanism could be used in various immune- and bioinformatics algorithms to map the interaction epitopes, furthering an understanding of these pathologies.