Patent ID: 7452709
Filing Date: 2008-11-18
Classification: A01K,C07K,G01N

Abstract:
1. A process of diagnosing the presence of infectious agents of human prion diseases in a sample, comprising a) obtaining a knock-in rodent that expresses a humanized prion protein, wherein the humanized prion protein is prepared by substituting the region between the SmaI site and the BstEII site in exon 3 of the non-human animal prion gene with the region between the SmaI site and the BstEII site in exon 3 of the human prion gene; b) administering to the rodent a sample suspected of containing infectious agents of human prion diseases; and c) from 14 to about 75 days after the administration, detecting deposition of an aberrant prion protein in follicular dendritic cell (FDC) of the rodent, wherein the deposition indicates the presence of the infectious agent in the sample.