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 are going to adopt an unbiased genomic approach and conduct whole transcriptome analyses using microarray gene expression methods in brain and/or blood of infected animals versus healthy controls. We hope to identify a set of genes that can be used for early diagnosis and/or as targets for therapeutic strategies. Within the Trans2Care project we intend to promote collaboration and exchange of knowledge to facilitate all partners’ research objectives, and possibly find a common way to accelerate the process aimed at improving our healthcare system.
