Prions adhere to soil minerals and remain infectious
Prions adhere to soil minerals and remain infectious
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.ppat.0020032
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发表时间：
2006-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Pedersen, Joel A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Johnson, Christopher J.;Phillips, Kristen E.;Pedersen, Joel A.
一种未知的环境传染源促成了朊病毒病（传染性海绵状脑病[TSE]）在绵羊、鹿和麋鹿中的自然传播。朊病毒感染性可通过从患病动物身上脱落和受感染尸体的分解进入土壤环境。将感染TSE的牛、羊和鹿作为一种处置方式进行掩埋，导致朊病毒无意中进入地下环境。我们通过研究疾病相关朊病毒蛋白（PrPSc）与常见土壤矿物质的相互作用，研究了土壤作为TSE水库的潜力。在这项研究中，我们证明了大量的PrPSc吸附到两个粘土矿物，石英，和四个整个土壤样品。我们定量了每种矿物的PrPSc-结合容量。此外，我们观察到从蒙脱石粘土上解吸的PrPSc在N-末端位点被切割，并且PrPSc和Mte之间的相互作用很强，使得蛋白质难以解吸。尽管切割和亲和结合，PrPSc结合Mte保持感染性。我们的研究结果表明，释放到土壤环境中的PrPSc可能以生物可利用的形式保存，使朊病毒病流行病持续存在，并使其他物种暴露于感染因子。
An unidentified environmental reservoir of infectivity contributes to the natural transmission of prion diseases (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies [TSEs]) in sheep, deer, and elk. Prion infectivity may enter soil environments via shedding from diseased animals and decomposition of infected carcasses. Burial of TSE- infected cattle, sheep, and deer as a means of disposal has resulted in unintentional introduction of prions into subsurface environments. We examined the potential for soil to serve as a TSE reservoir by studying the interaction of the disease-associated prion protein (PrPSc) with common soil minerals. In this study, we demonstrated substantial PrPSc adsorption to two clay minerals, quartz, and four whole soil samples. We quantified the PrPSc- binding capacities of each mineral. Furthermore, we observed that PrPSc desorbed from montmorillonite clay was cleaved at an N- terminal site and the interaction between PrPSc and Mte was strong, making desorption of the protein difficult. Despite cleavage and avid binding, PrPSc bound to Mte remained infectious. Results from our study suggest that PrPSc released into soil environments may be preserved in a bioavailable form, perpetuating prion disease epizootics and exposing other species to the infectious agent.