R.M.R.P.S. Castro et al. / Journal of Neuroscience Methods 139 (2004) 263–269 269
for vCJD (Collinge, 2001) and for worse cognition in the
elderly (Berr et al., 1998), in Alzheimer (Berr et al., 2003)
and Down syndrome (Del Bo et al., 2003) and for sus-
ceptibility to epileptic syndromes. It will also permit the
prediction of a poorer surgical outcome in patients with
Hippocampal Sclerosis (Walz et al., 2003).
Finally, one major sanitary problem is related to prion
diseases in cattle and sheep and how variant alleles at
their PRNP sequence are linked to infection susceptibility
(Goldmann et al., 1994; Hunter, 1997). The use of DHPLC
and an adaptation of the conditions described here will also
permit the prompt evaluation of a large number of animals.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grant from FAPESP (Fun-
dação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo #
99/07124-8). R.M.R.P.S. Castro and M.C. Landemberger are
research fellows supported by CAPES and FAPESP, respec-
tively.
References
Berr C, Richard F, Dufouil C, Amant C, Alperovitch A, Amouyel P. Poly-
morphism of the prion protein is associated with cognitive impairment
in the elderly: the EVA study. Neurology 1998;51(3):734–7.
Berr C, Helbecque N, Sazdovitch V, Mohr M, Amant C, Amouyel P,
et al. Polymorphism of the codon 129 of the prion protein (PrP)
gene and neuropathology of cerebral ageing. Acta Neuropathol Berl
2003;106:71–4.
Campbell TA, Palmer MS, Will RG, Gibb WR, Luthert PJ, Collinge J.
A prion disease with a novel 96-base pair insertional mutation in the
prion protein gene. Neurology 1996;46:761–6.
Capellari S, Vital C, Parchi P, Petersen RB, Ferrer X, Jarnier D, et al.
Familial prion disease with a novel 144 bp insertion in the prion
protein gene in a Basque family. Neurology 1997;49:133–41.
Collinge J, Sidle KC, Meads J, Ironside J, Hill AF. Molecular analysis of
prion strain variation and the aetiology of new variant CJD. Nature
1996;383(6602):685–90.
Collinge J. Prion diseases of humans and animals: their causes and
molecular basis. Annu Rev Neurosci 2001;24:519–50.
Del Bo R, Comi GP, Giorda R, Crimi M, Locatelli F, Martinelli-Boneschi
F, et al. The 129 codon polymorphism of the prion protein gene
influences earlier cognitive performance in Down syndrome subjects.
J Neurol 2003;250:688–92.
Doh-ura K, Tateishi J, Sasaki H, Kitamoto T, Sakaki Y. Proleu change
at position 102 of prion protein is the most common but not the
sole mutation related to Gerstmann–Straussler syndrome. Biochem
Biophys Res Commun 1989;163:974–9.
Don RH, Cox PT, Wainwright BJ, Baker K, Mattick JS. Touchdown PCR
to circumvent spurious priming during gene amplification. Nucl Acids
Res 1991;19:4008.
Fink JK, Peacock ML, Warren Jr JT, Roses AD, Prusiner SB. Detecting
prion protein gene mutations by denaturing gradient gel electrophore-
sis. Hum Mutat 1994;4:42–50.
Gambetti P, Parchi P, Chen SG. Hereditary Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and
fatal familial insomnia. Clin Lab Med 2003;23:43–64.
Goldfarb LG, Brown P, Little BW, Cervenakova L, Kenney K, Gibbs Jr
CJ, et al. A new (two-repeat) octapeptide coding insert mutation in
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Neurology 1993;43:2392–4.
Goldmann W, Hunter N, Smith G, Foster J, Hope J. PrP genotype and
agent effects in scrapie: change in allelic interaction with different
isolates of agent in sheep, a natural host of scrapie. J Gen Virol
1994;75(Pt 5):989–95.
Hsiao K, Baker HF, Crow TJ, Poulter M, Owen F, Terwilliger JD, et al.
Linkage of a prion protein missense variant to Gerstmann–Straussler
syndrome. Nature 1989;338:342–5.
Hunter N. PrP genetics in sheep and the applications for scrapie and BSE.
Trends Microbiol 1997;5(8):331–4.
Laplanche JL, Delasnerie-Laupretre N, Brandel JP, Dussaucy M, Chate-
lain J, Launay JM. Two novel insertions in the prion protein gene
in patients with late-onset dementia. Hum Mol Genet 1995;4:1109–
11.
Lee IY, Westaway D, Smit AF, Wang K, Seto J, Chen L, et al. Complete
genomic sequence and analysis of the prion protein gene region from
three mammalian species. Genome Res 1998;8:1022–37.
Martins VR, Linden R, Prado MA, Walz R, Sakamoto AC, Izquierdo I,
et al. Cellular prion protein: on the road for functions. FEBS Lett
2002;512:25–8.
Mastrianni JA, Roos RP. The prion diseases. Semin Neurol 2000;20:337–
52.
Nitrini R, Rosemberg S, Passos-Bueno MR, da Silva LS, Iughetti P,
Papadopoulos M, et al. Familial spongiform encephalopathy associated
with a novel prion protein gene mutation. Ann Neurol 1997;42:138–
46.
Oefner PJ, Bonn GK, Huber CG, Nathakarnkitkool S. Comparative study
of capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chro-
matography in the analysis of oligonucleotides and DNA. J Chro-
matogr 1992;625:331–40.
Owen F, Poulter M, Lofthouse R, Collinge J, Crow TJ, Risby D, et al.
Insertion in prion protein gene in familial Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.
Lancet 1989;1:51–2.
Palmer MS, Collinge J. Mutations and polymorphisms in the prion protein
gene. Hum Mutat 1993;2:168–73.
Parker LT, Deng Q, Zakeri H, Carlson C, Nickerson DA, Kwok PY. Peak
height variations in automated sequencing of PCR products using Taq
dye-terminator chemistry. Biotechniques 1995;19:116–21.
Pocchiari M, Salvatore M, Cutruzzola F, Genuardi M, Allocatelli CT,
Masullo C, et al. A new point mutation of the prion protein gene in
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Ann Neurol 1993;34:802–7.
Prusiner SB. Prions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1998;95:13363–83.
Ripoll L, Laplanche JL, Salzmann M, Jouvet A, Planques B, Dussaucy
M, et al. A new point mutation in the prion protein gene at codon
210 in Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Neurology 1993;43:1934–8.
Samaia HB, Mari JJ, Vallada HP, Moura RP, Simpson AJ, Brentani RR.
A prion-linked psychiatric disorder. Nature 1997;390(6657):241.
Tanaka Y, Minematsu K, Moriyasu H, Yamaguchi T, Yutani C, Kitamoto
T, et al. A Japanese family with a variant of Gerstmann–Straussler–
Scheinker disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1997;62(5):454–
7.
Walz R, Castro RMRPS, Velasco TR, Alexandre Jr V, Lopes MH, Leite
JP, et al. Surgical outcome in mesial temporal sclerosis correlates with
prion protein gene variant. Neurology 2003;61:1204–9.
Windl O, Giese A, Schulz-Schaeffer W, Zerr I, Skworc K, Arendt S,
et al. Molecular genetics of human prion diseases in Germany. Hum
Genet 1999;105:244–52.
Xiao W, Oefner PJ. Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography:
a review. Hum Mutat 2001;17:439–74.
Zimmermann K, Turecek PL, Schwarz HP. Genotyping of the prion protein
gene at codon 129. Acta Neuropathol Berl 1999;97:355–8.