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Quinacrine was proposed as a potential therapeutic agent for prion diseases. This drug was selected in a defined programme of screening tests starting with cell-free in vitro tests for its anti-fibrillogenic activity against PrP peptides and extending to in vivo models. The results showed favourable effects in the initial cell-free system but non-significant effects in tissue culture models of prion disease and no significant effects in defined animal models. These results accurately predicted the outcome of subsequent clinical trials in man.
Pepscan produces defined peptides on a commercial basis for use by the scientific research community. In this project, defined PrP peptides were developed and an in vitro, cell-free screening system using these peptides to test the potential efficacy of anti-prion drugs was also developed. This work is published in peer-review journals.
The nature of the infectious agent of prion disease remains to be fully defined. This model was developed to account for the known physical properties of the prion protein and its behaviour in NMR, MS, CD and other physical chemistry testing modalities. The model can now be used to provide testable hypotheses on the nature of strain variation of a protein-only infectious agent.
Studies of the pathology of prion diseases and Alzheimer's disease identified several molecules that co-located with amyloid (PrP or A-beta) deposition. These molecules include elements of the complement cascade, serum amyloid P, ApoJ. Their potenial modifying effects on prion disease pathogenesis and capacity to interfere with potential anti-prion therapeutics was investigated.
Most investigations of anti-prion drugs focus on the physical nature of prions and drugs that disrupt the fibrillar structure of the infectious protein. The approach of anti-cholesterol drugs in prion therapeutics is an alternative approach seeking to disrupt the cellular trafficking, processing and formation of prions. Efficacy has been demonstrated in tissue culture models and infected cell lines; this is now being translated to in vivo models.
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