Nucleic acid ligands against infectious prions

Abstract

The invention generally relates to nucleic acid ligands that specifically bind to infectious prions, and methods of diagnosing a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease in a subject. In certain embodiments, the invention provides an isolated nucleic acid ligand that binds to an infectious prion. In other embodiments, the invention provides a method for diagnosing a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease in a subject including obtaining a tissue or body fluid sample from a subject, contacting the tissue or body fluid with a nucleic acid ligand that binds to an infectious prion, thereby detecting the infectious prion in the sample, and diagnosing the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease based on results of the contacting step.

1 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . A method for assessing whether a subject may be afflicted with a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease comprising:
 providing a tissue or body fluid sample from a subject;   contacting the tissue or body fluid with a nucleic acid ligand that distinguishes between an infectious prion and a non-infectious prion and specifically binds to only the infectious prion, wherein the nucleic acid ligand comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2;   detecting the specifically bound nucleic acid ligand, thereby detecting the infectious prion in the sample; and   assessing whether the subject may be afflicted with the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease based on results of the detecting step.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the nucleic acid ligand is single stranded. 
     
     
         11 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the subject is a human. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease is selected from the group consisting of: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD); Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD); Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome; Fatal Familial Insomnia; and Kuru. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the subject is an animal. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease is selected from the group consisting of: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE); Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD); Scrapie; Transmissible mink encephalopathy; Feline spongiform encephalopathy; and Ungulate spongiform encephalopathy. 
     
     
         19 - 36 . (canceled)