Cell Culture Methods for Screening of Prion Therapeutics

It is currently difficult to predict the number of asymptomatic prion carriers who will potentially go on to develop a prion disease or who will unknowingly transmit the prion agent to another individual. As prion therapeutic clinical trials have lacked success, there is a continuous need for novel therapeutics that have the potential to prevent, as for inherited prion disorders; slow, as for all prion disorders; and ultimately stop disease progression. Prion-infected cell models provide an ideal tool to search for new treatment avenues. This chapter describes the use of prion cell culture systems in the identification of prion therapeutics. It also deals with the methods required to validate the potential of an antiprion agent through cell viability and impact on cell growth rate.