Claudio Soto Jara

Equity Interest - Non-publicly traded entity ( e.g., stock, stock option, or other ownership interest)

Pathogenesis, Transmission and Detection of Zoonotic Prion Diseases

NARRATIVE Prions are the proteinaceous infectious agents responsible for various fatal animal and human prion diseases. Although these diseases are rare in humans, the reported animal-to-human transmission of the illness and the increasing prevalence of some animal diseases (e.g. chronic wasting disease (CWD) affecting cervids in North America) present important problems for public health. In this Program Project we will investigate the mechanism of prion replication and the generation, adaptation and evolution of prion strains, the routes of transmission of the disease among animals, the evaluation of the zoonotic potential of CWD, the role of the environment on prion transmission and the development of efficient procedures to detect the infectious agent. The findings generated in this project will contribute to prevent further propagation of existing prion disease and to avoid the emergence of new diseases with potentially disastrous consequences. Moreover, understanding of the many uncertainties surrounding prions will be important to design novel therapeutic strategies, and to clarify the molecular basis of this novel type of infectious agent.