Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA to the CNS Using Cationic and Anionic Liposomes
Published on: July 23, 2016
Novel heparan mimetics potently inhibit the scrapie prion protein and its endocytosis
Oshrat Schonberger1, Lior Horonchik, Ruth Gabizon
1Department of Molecular Biology, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
Abstract:
During prion diseases the normal prion protein PrP(C) is refolded into an abnormal conformer PrP(Sc). We have studied the PrP(Sc) inhibiting activity of a library of synthetic heparan mimetic (HM) biopolymers. HMs are chemically derived dextrans obtained by successive substitutions with carboxymethyl, benzylamide, and sulfate groups on glucose residues. Some HMs eliminated PrP(Sc) from prion-infected cells after a 5 day course at 100 ng/ml and were 15 x potent than pentosan sulfate in this system. The anti-PrP(Sc) activity of HMs correlated with the degree of sulfation but was increased by benzylamidation. HMs did not reduce the synthesis of PrP(C) nor its attachment to lipid rafts, but instead blocked its conversion into PrP(Sc). The anti-PrP(Sc) HMs also prevented the uptake of prion rods by cultured cells. HMs may thus block the interaction of PrP(Sc) with a putative cellular receptor, possibly heparan sulfate. HMs provide an attractive chemical approach for the synthesis of TSE therapeutic and prophylactic reagents.
Related Concept Videos
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly
Subviral Agents
Inhibitors Of Virion Release
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining, normally used to...
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Rabies

