Special Issue "Chronic Wasting Disease and Other Animal Prion Diseases: Towards the Comprehension of Animal Prion Pathologies"

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Prions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2023) | Viewed by 557

Special Issue Editors

Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: prion diseases; chronic wasting disease; scrapie; bovine spongiform encephalopathy; PrP; pathology
Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G8, Canada
Interests: chronic wasting disease; animals; prion proteins
1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
2. Anatomical Pathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association, Ottawa Hospital Civic Location, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4E9, Canada
Interests: CNS pathogens; prions; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; surveillance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative, fatal processes of animals and humans caused by prions, which are infectious, aberrant proteins that can propagate in the absence of genetic material. Along with scrapie, the prion disease of sheep and goats, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), which affects numerous species of cervids, stands out for being highly transmissible. CWD is unique among prion diseases since it is the only one found in both wild and domestic animals.

Many aspects of prion diseases remain to be elucidated. These include the specific molecular mechanisms involved in their pathogenesis or which molecules could be used as biomarkers for a preclinical diagnosis or treatment. However, one of the most puzzling features about prions is that, like other pathological agents, exist in a variety of strains that produce different disease phenotypes and have different host ranges. Since prions do not contain genetic material, the biological information of prion strains it is believed to be encoded in, and perpetuated by, their conformation.

This Special Issue welcomes prion researchers who wish to share new developments in CWD and other animal prion diseases. Original research and review articles about animal prion strains, pathogenesis, possible biomarkers for diagnosis and potential therapeutic approaches to prion diseases are especially welcomed.

Dr. Alicia Otero
Dr. Alsu Kuznetsova
Dr. Gerard H. Jansen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • prion diseases
  • animal prions
  • CWD
  • scrapie
  • BSE
  • prion pathogenesis
  • prion strains

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

15 pages, 355 KiB  
Review
Diagnosis in Scrapie: Conventional Methods and New Biomarkers
Pathogens 2023, 12(12), 1399; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12121399 - 28 Nov 2023
Viewed by 326
Abstract
Scrapie, a naturally occurring prion disease affecting goats and sheep, comprises classical and atypical forms, with classical scrapie being the archetype of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. This review explores the challenges of scrapie diagnosis and the utility of various biomarkers and their potential implications [...] Read more.
Scrapie, a naturally occurring prion disease affecting goats and sheep, comprises classical and atypical forms, with classical scrapie being the archetype of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. This review explores the challenges of scrapie diagnosis and the utility of various biomarkers and their potential implications for human prion diseases. Understanding these biomarkers in the context of scrapie may enable earlier prion disease diagnosis in humans, which is crucial for effective intervention. Research on scrapie biomarkers bridges the gap between veterinary and human medicine, offering hope for the early detection and improved management of prion diseases. Full article
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