An Evolutionary Perspective on the Possible Involvement of Plasminogen in the Pathology of Bovine Spongiform Encelopathy

Custer  C. Deocaris,; Maria Cereza  R. Velasco,; Earl Louis  Sempio,; Alejandro  Q. Nato Jr.,; Apollnario  D. Nazarea,

An Evolutionary Perspective on the Possible Involvement of Plasminogen in the Pathology of Bovine Spongiform Encelopathy

Custer C. Deocaris | Maria Cereza R. Velasco | Earl Louis Sempio | Alejandro Q. Nato Jr. | Apollnario D. Nazarea

Discipline: Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science

Abstract:

Bovine Spongiform Encelopathy (BSE) is a fascinating transmissible neurodegenerative disease that appears to result from an amyloldal accumulation in the brain of misfolded prion proteins (PrP) called PrP8c involving an entirely novel disease transmission by means of its self-replicating glycoprotein. Using a comparative genomic-based approach, here, we describe supportive evidence for the involvement of the serum protein plasminogen as a PrP8c-target effector in the manifestation of neuronal cell death. Due to the current technical difficulties of differentiating the isoforms of PrP, we propose that In order to differentiate BSE-infected cattle within a herd, the development of diagnostic techniques may cost-effectively target plasminogen expression. Similarly, the plasminogen pathway may serve as target for drug design, as a strategy for treating, if not reversing, a wide number of transmissible spongiform encelopathies (TSEs).