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SUMMARY:Soil and the Environmental Transmission of Prion Diseases
DTSTART:20110530T161500
DTSTAMP:20260925T002815Z
UID:7a4e74fd5df46caec0a1e7ce5cae15cbacc1dfee6562495d795dfe8b
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Joel PEDERSON (University of Wisconsin-Madison\, USA)\nPrio
 ns are the etiological agents of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
  (TSEs)\, a  class of fatal neurodegenerative diseases affecting humans an
 d other mammals. The  pathogenic prion protein (PrPTSE) is a misfolded for
 m of the host-encoded prion protein  and represents the predominant\, if n
 ot sole\, component of the infectious agent.  Environmental routes of TSE 
 transmission are implicated in epizootics of sheep scrapie  and chronic wa
 sting disease of deer\, elk\, and moose. Soil is the most plausible  candi
 date for preserving prion infectivity in the environment. We have investig
 ated  PrPTSE attachment to and detachment from inorganic and organic soil 
 particle surfaces  and examined the effect of sorption to specific soil co
 nstituents on disease transmission.  Interaction of PrPTSE with some phyll
 osilicate mineral surfaces is remarkably strong.  Interestingly\, rather t
 han diminishing bioavailability\, attachment to such particles  enhances d
 isease transmission. This finding suggests an explanation for environmenta
 l  disease transmission despite the presumably low levels of prions shed b
 y infected  animals. Our results to date suggest that prions released into
  many soil environments are  preserved near the surface in a bioavailable 
 form\, likely perpetuating prion disease  epizootics and exposing other sp
 ecies to the infectious agent. The high stability of prions  observed in o
 ther contexts may contribute to their survival in the natural and engineer
 ed  environments.
LOCATION:GR B3 30
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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