IMMUNOREACTIVITY OF SPECIFIC EPITOPES OF PRPSC IS ENHANCED BY PRETREATMENT IN A HYDRATED AUTOCLAVE

An abnormal protein (PrPs(Sc)) accumulates in animals affected with sc rapie. Immunoblotting procedures have been used widely to detect PrPSc . Blotted membranes were subjected to pretreatment in a hydrated autoc lave, and the subsequent immunoreactivity of PrPSc was examined. The i mmunoreactivity of PrPSc to antisera against the synthetic peptides of the mouse PrP amino acid sequences 199 to 208 and 213 to 226 was enha nced by the pretreatment. However, the reactivity to antisera of pepti de sequences 100 to 115 and 165 to 174 was not affected. The antibody- binding ability of the specific epitopes which are located close to th e C-terminal end of PrP27-30, the proteinase-resistant portion of PrPS c, was enhanced by pretreatment in a hydrated autoclave. This pretreat ment increased the sensitivity of PrPSc, and it would be useful for di agnosis of scrapie.