Surface plasmon resonance analysis for the screening of anti-prion compounds.

The interaction of anti-prion compounds and amyloid binding dyes with a carboxy-terminal domain of prion protein (PrP121-231) was examined using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and compared with inhibition activities of abnormal PrP formation in scrapie-infected cells. Most examined compounds had affinities for PrP121-231: antimalarials had low affinities, whereas Congo red, phthalocyanine and thioflavin S had high affinities. The SPR binding response correlated with the inhibition activity of abnormal PrP formation. Several drugs were screened using SPR to verify the findings: propranolol was identified as a new anti-prion compound. This fact indicates that drug screenings by this assay are useful.