The environmental implications of prion disease

Dr. Stuart Lichtenberg

Research Manager, Minnesota Prion Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota

Abstract

Prions are the causative agent of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, a class of incurable and untreatable neurodegenerative disease. Unlike conventional pathogens, prions are composed solely of misfolded conformers of native, endogenous protein. Their structure confers prions with a number of distinctive properties, including a remarkable resistance to physical and chemical degradation. This, in turn, means that prions are extraordinarily persistent outside host organisms and in the broader environment. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease of cervids (deer, elk, moose, etc.) and is the first prion disease known to be circulating in a free ranging species. As CWD spreads in North America, prions are continuously being deposited into the environment, facilitating disease spread and creating significant ecological challenges and hazards for wildlife and humans alike. Work in the laboratory of Dr. Stuart Lichtenberg focuses on the persistence, transport, and remediation of environmental prions. In this lecture, some of the recent advances in each of these areas will be discussed, specifically the time scales prions are bioactive in natural settings, some surprising findings regarding prion transport in soil columns, and a possible means for prion remediation at field-scale. Finally, we will discuss the possible trajectories the CWD epidemic may take in the coming decades.