Filtration of PrP

A protease resistant isoform of the prion protein (PrPSc) is found in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies; Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS) in humans, and scrapie in various animal species (Prusiner, 1982). Experimental inoculation of PrPSc into laboratory animals causes spongiform encephalopathy after long incubation periods. Infectivity of PrPSc is highly resistant for chemico-physical inactivation procedures, such as formalin fixation for many years and heating at 121°C for 4 hours (Tateishi et al., 1980). Here we report the effective removal of PrPSc using validatable filter BMMR.