Prion diseases are incurable and fatal neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and
animals. The causative agent is an infectious protein called prion (PrPSc), which is the pathological form of a
normal protein (PrPC) present on the cell membrane. The molecular mechanisms underlying prion replication
and subsequent degeneration of the Central Nervous System (CNS) are still poorly understood and therefore
innovative approaches are needed to build diagnostic, therapeutic, taxonomic, and disease surveillance tools.
We adopted an unbiased genomic approach and conducted whole transcriptome analyses using microarray
and RT-qPCR gene expression methods in brain of infected macaques versus healthy controls. We identified a
set of genes that could become novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and/or therapeutic strategies for prion
diseases and other neurodegenerative disorders.
