Research in this laboratory focuses on the molecular basis of disease in transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) or prion diseases. Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative diseases that include sporadic, iatrogenic, and familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans: scrapie in sheep; chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer, elk, and moose; and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle.
The conversion of the normally soluble and protease-sensitive host prion protein, PrPC, to an insoluble and partially protease-resistant form, PrPSc, is a key event in prion pathogenesis, and PrPC is required for prion infection and disease to occur. Using both in vitro and in vivo model systems, our laboratory studies the role of PrPC and PrPSc in several aspects of prion pathogenesis, including: 1) the molecular pathogenesis of prion species barriers and strains; 2) the establishment of acute versus chronic prion infection; 3) the contribution of mitochondria to prion pathogenesis; and 4) the development of prion vaccines and therapeutics.
Suzette A. Priola, Ph.D.
Chief, TSE/Prion Molecular Biology Section
Deputy Chief, Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity
Education:
Ph.D., 1990, University of California, Los Angeles
Jason R. Hollister, Ph.D.
Education:
Ph.D., Molecular Biology, 2003, University of Wyoming
Dr. Hollister received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in 2003 from the University of Wyoming. His current research projects involve studying how glycosylation influences both prion protein function and the formation of infectious prions.
Daniel Shoup, Ph.D.
Education:
Ph.D., Biochemistry & Biophysics, 2016, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Dr. Shoup received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Texas A&M University in 2016 for characterizing the intricacies of protein aggregate disassembly by molecular chaperones using a combination of novel single particle and ensemble fluorescence-based techniques. Using a combination of immunoassays and fluorescence-based techniques, his current research focuses on uncovering how...
Former Research Group Members
Dr. Ina Vorberg, Ph.D. Professor, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE). Bonn, Germany.
Dr. Robert Faris, Ph.D. Associate Research Scientist, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Iowa, Ames, Iowa USA.
Dr. Young Pyo Choi, DVM, Ph.D. Director, Lab Animal Center, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, South Korea.