Antibodies for discrimination of prions

1. An immunoassay for detecting infectious prions comprising:

providing a solid support having bound thereto an anti-nucleic acid antibody, wherein the anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to deoxyribonucleic acid present in infectious prions found in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease brain homogenates,

contacting the solid support with a sample, wherein deoxyribonucleic acid which is present in infectious prions that are present in the sample binds to the anti-nucleic acid antibody thereby capturing any infectious prions on the solid support,

washing the support to remove any unbound sample,

contacting the solid support with a labeled prion specific antibody, wherein the labeled prion specific antibody binds to any captured infectious prions, and

carrying out a detection step to determine if infectious prions are bound to the solid support.

2. An immunoassay for detecting infectious prions comprising:

providing a solid support coated with an agent to bind an anti-nucleic acid antibody,

contacting the solid support with an anti-nucleic acid antibody, wherein the anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to deoxyribonucleic acid present in infectious prions found in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease brain homogenates, wherein the anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to the agent coated on the solid support,

contacting the solid support with a sample, wherein deoxyribonucleic acid which is present in infectious prions that are present in the sample binds to the anti-nucleic acid antibody thereby capturing any infectious prions on the solid support,

washing the support to remove any unbound sample,

contacting the solid support with a labeled prion specific antibody, wherein the labeled prion specific antibody binds to any captured infectious prions, and

carrying out a detection step to determine if infectious prions are bound to the solid support.

3. The immunoassay claimed in claim 2 wherein the agent is avidin or streptavidin and the anti-nucleic acid antibody has been biotinylated.

4. An immunoassay for detecting infectious prions comprising:

providing a solid support having bound thereto a prion specific antibody,

contacting the solid support with a sample, wherein the prion specific antibody binds to any prions present in the sample thereby capturing any prions on the solid support,

washing the support to remove any unbound sample,

contacting the solid support with a labeled anti-nucleic acid antibody, wherein the anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to deoxyribonucleic acid which is present in infectious prions found in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease brain homogenates, wherein the anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to deoxyribonucleic acid which is present in any captured infectious prions, and

carrying out a detection step to determine if infectious prions are bound to the solid support.

5. An immunoassay for detecting infectious prions comprising:

providing a solid support coated with an agent to bind a prion specific antibody,

contacting the solid support with a prion specific antibody, wherein the prion specific antibody binds to the agent coated on the solid support,

contacting the solid support with a sample, wherein prions that are present in the sample bind to the prion specific antibody thereby capturing any prions on the solid support,

washing the support to remove any unbound sample,

contacting the solid support with a labeled anti-nucleic acid antibody, wherein the anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to deoxyribonucleic acid which is present in infectious prions found in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease brain homogenates, wherein the labeled anti-nucleic acid antibody binds to any captured infectious prions, and

carrying out a detection step to determine if infectious prions are bound to the solid support.

6. The immunoassay claimed in claim 5 wherein the agent is avidin or streptavidin and the prion specific antibody has been biotinylated.