An approach to the isolation of biological particles using sedimentation analysis

Phenotypic diversity in ALS and the role of poly-conformational protein misfolding

In many types of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS), mutations cause proteins to gain toxic properties that mediate neurodegenerative processes. It is becoming increasingly clear that the proteins involved in ALS, and those responsible for a host of other neurodegenerative diseases, share many characteristics with a growing number of prion diseases. ALS is a heterogenous disease in which the majority of cases are sporadic in their etiology. Studies investigating the inherited forms of the disease are now beginning to provide evidence that some of this heterogeneity may be due to the existence of distinct conformations that ALS-linked proteins can adopt to produce the equivalent of prion strains. In this review, we discuss the in vitro and in vivo evidence that has been generated to better understand the characteristics of these proteins and how their tertiary structure may impact the disease phenotype.

Utility of mass spectrometry in the diagnosis of prion diseases

We developed a sensitive mass spectrometry-based method of quantitating the prions present in a variety of mammalian species. Calibration curves relating the area ratios of the integrated MRM signals from selected analyte peptides and their oxidized analogues to their homologous stable isotope labeled internal standards were prepared. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) for the synthetic peptides from human, sheep, deer, cow, and mouse PrP were determined to be below 100 amol. Nonanalyte peptides that were characteristic of prions were included in the multiple reaction monitoring method, thereby allowing for both the quantitation and confirmation of the presence of prions in the attomole range. This method was used to quantitate the prions present in brains of hamsters or mice 5 weeks after inoculation (ic) with either four hamster-adapted prion strains (139H, drowsy, 22AH, and 22CH) or four mouse-adapted prion strains (Me7, Me7-298, RML, and 79A). The prions from different brain regions of a sheep naturally infected with scrapie were quantitated. All of the rodent-adapted prion strains were detectable in the asymptomatic animals. In sheep, prions were detectable in the obex, anterior portion of the cerebrum, and the nonobex/nonanterior portion of the cerebrum. This mass spectrometry-based approach can be used to quantitate and confirm the presence of prions before detectable pathology.

Prions

Prions are unprecedented infectious pathogens that cause a group of invariably fatal neurodegenerative diseases by an entirely novel mechanism. Prion diseases may present as genetic, infectious, or sporadic disorders, all of which involve modification of the prion protein (PrP). Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), scrapie of sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) of humans are among the most notable prion diseases. Prions are transmissible particles that are devoid of nucleic acid and seem to be composed exclusively of a modified protein (PrPSc). The normal, cellular PrP (PrPC) is converted into PrPSc through a posttranslational process during which it acquires a high beta-sheet content. The species of a particular prion is encoded by the sequence of the chromosomal PrP gene of the mammals in which it last replicated. In contrast to pathogens carrying a nucleic acid genome, prions appear to encipher strain-specific properties in the tertiary structure of PrPSc. Transgenetic studies argue that PrPSc acts as a template upon which PrPC is refolded into a nascent PrPSc molecule through a process facilitated by another protein. Miniprions generated in transgenic mice expressing PrP, in which nearly half of the residues were deleted, exhibit unique biological properties and should facilitate structural studies of PrPSc. While knowledge about prions has profound implications for studies of the structural plasticity of proteins, investigations of prion diseases suggest that new strategies for the prevention and treatment of these disorders may also find application in the more common degenerative diseases.

Novel proteinaceous infectious particles cause scrapie

After infection and a prolonged incubation period, the scrapie agent causes a degenerative disease of the central nervous system in sheep and goats. Six lines of evidence including sensitivity to proteases demonstrate that this agent contains a protein that is required for infectivity. Although the scrapie agent is irreversibly inactivated by alkali, five procedures with more specificity for modifying nucleic acids failed to cause inactivation. The agent shows heterogeneity with respect to size, apparently a result of its hydrophobicity; the smallest form may have a molecular weight of 50,000 or less. Because the novel properties of the scrapie agent distinguish it from viruses, plasmids, and viroids, a new term "prion" is proposed to denote a small proteinaceous infectious particle which is resistant to inactivation by most procedures that modify nucleic acids. Knowledge of the scrapie agent structure may have significance for understanding the causes of several degenerative diseases.

Experimental scrapie in the mouse: electrophoretic and sedimentation properties of the partially purified agent

Some biochemical and biophysical properties of the scrapie agent in a partially purified fraction P5 from murine spleen are described in this communication. The agent was stable in the nonionic detergents Triton X-100 and Nonidet P40 and stable in the nondenaturing, anionic detergents sodium cholate and sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate. In contrast, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) inactivated the agent at high concentrations (1% or >) when the detergent-to-protein ration approached 1.5 g SDS/g protein. The agent was resistant to inactivation by nucleases and proteases, even in the presence of 0.1% SDS. A broad peak of infectivity was exhibited in modified colloidal silica (Percoll) density gradients. Maximal titers were found at a Percoll density of 1.10 g/cm3 in the presence and absence of 0.05% SDS. Gel electrophoresis of the agent in the presence of 0.1% SDS resulted in inactivation of > 95% of the agent loaded onto the gel. Free-flow electrophoresis showed that > 99% of the agent in fraction P5 migrated toward the anode, but not as a discrete species. Sedimentation analysis of the agent in fraction P5 in the presence of 1% lysolecithin showed that the agent has a sedimentation coefficient of < 300S but > 30S. Heating P5 preparations caused the agent to associate with cellular elements and form aggregates with sedimentation coefficients > 10,000S. Removal by differential centrifugation of the large forms of the agent produced upon heating permitted characterization of a discrete subpopulation of scrapie agent particles. Rate-zonal sucrose gradient studies showed that > 95% of the infectivity in this subpopulation sedimented as uniform particles with a sedimentation coefficient of 240S.

Sedimentation characteristics of the scrapie agent from murine spleen and brain

Sedimentation profiles of the scrapie agent in extracts of murine spleen and brain were determined by analytical differential centrifugation. Infectivity profiles of the agent from the two tissues were similar. Sedimentation of the agent was not substantially altered by detergent treatment with sodium deoxycholate. In the presence of detergent, centrifugation at an omega2t value of 3.0 x 1010 rad2/s in a fixed-angle rotor sedimented 90% of the agent. Comparative studies with radioisotopically labeled Simian virus 40 showed that centrifugation at an omega2t value of 1.6 x 10(10) rad2/s removed 90% of the virions. The sedimentation profile of the scrapie agent was similar to that observed for cellular ribosomal RNA. Heating infectious extracts of spleen to 80 degrees C for 30 min resulted in the destruction of 95% of the RNA while sedimentation of the scrapie agent was unchanged. These studies establish a limited range of particle sizes for the scrapie agent.