19 May 2008

3 minute read

North America

Nat Kav uses x-ray crystallography to develop a better understanding of the structure of the prion protein.

The funding, which will support 19 projects across the country carried out by 60 Canadian researchers, will accelerate discoveries surrounding prion diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk.

Normal prion proteins are found on the surface of the cells of both humans and animals. Prion diseases occur when a normal protein is misshapen into an infectious, disease-causing form, called prions. Prion diseases are untreatable, infectious, and fatal neurodegenerative diseases.

Tomas Nilsson, professor in the Department of Rural Economy, and his team will examine consumer responses related to voluntary or mandatory BSE testing. His research aims at targeting policies for BSE testing while enhancing the risk assessment of future similar disease outbreaks in Canada by using a "farm-to-fork" strategy to trace the human food chain of animal products in conjunction with assessments of the political economy.

"The research aims to quantify the different testing and traceability mechanisms that are in place globally by looking at various countries that are important to Canada's agriculture and food sectors, to see what kind of policies have they implemented and see if there is anything we can change in our policies," said Nilsson.

Another project, led by Michael James, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and Nat Kav, professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, uses x-ray crystallography-a process to determine the 3D makeup of a molecule-to develop a better understanding of the structure of the prion protein.

"We are proposing to determine the structures of several antibodies that recognize the prion protein," said Kav. "We expect that these studies will provide much needed information on the structural features of the shape-shifting prion protein and may one day lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for prion diseases, including BSE."

Luis Schang, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, is hoping to identify how the accumulation of prions eventually leads to neuronal death, and how that identification will potential help provide a target for drugs that inhibit progression of disease.

Finally, David Wishart, professor in the departments of computer science and biological sciences, received PrioNet funding for his work in developing improved experimental techniques to facilitate the understanding of protein structure at the molecular level.

PrioNet Canada is an innovative pan-Canadian network that capitalizes on fundamental, applied, and social research to develop strategies to mitigate-and ultimately eradicate- the impacts of prion diseases. PrioNet funds multidisciplinary research, provides training opportunities, facilitates the transfer of research results, and promotes knowledge exchange activities. PrioNet is hosted by the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute in Vancouver, B.C.

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