Typing and diagnosis of spongiform encephalopathy

1. A method for typing a sample of a prion or spongiform encephalopathy disease the method comprising comparing and identifying similar physicochemical properties of the sample with a standard sample of known PrP Sc type, wherein the physicochemical properties are the sizes and ratios of distinct PrP Sc glycoforms.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the standard sample of known PrP Sc type is bovine spongiform encephalopathy or Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the comparison of physicochemical properties comprises a comparison of protease resistance, fragment size, and ratio of PrP Sc glycoforms.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the protease resistance is proteinase K resistance.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the spongiform encephalopathy is derived from a mammal or derived from a chicken.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the method comprises subjecting the sample to digestion by a protease, electrophoresing the result of the digestion and comparing the resulting pattern of fragment size and ratio of PrP Sc glycoforms of the electrophoresis with a standard electrophoresis pattern of a known PrP Sc type.

7. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the typing of the sample comprises a method of diagnosing a disease.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the sample to be typed is derived from a mammal or derived from a chicken.

9. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the sample to be typed is derived from brain tissue, other central nervous system tissue, a tissue of the lymphoreticular system, cerebrospinal fluid and/or the blood.

10. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the electrophoresis pattern of the known sample has a pattern substantially similar to that of type 4 as shown in FIG. 4 .

11. A method of identifying a bovine spongiform encephalopathy infection in an animal and/or tissue, the method comprising isolating a prion protein from the animal and/or tissue and identifying that said prion protein is characterized by having three distinct bands on an electrophoresis gel following proteinase K digestion, the bands comprising (i) a band of highest molecular weight in the greatest proportion, (ii) a band of lowest molecular weight in the lowest proportion, and (iii) a band with a molecular weight between the bands of (i) and (ii) and a proportion between the bands of (i) and (ii) and by having substantially similar glycoform proportions as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the animal or tissue is non-bovine.

13. A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the animal, and/or tissue, from which the prion is sampled is derived from a mammal or derived from a chicken.

14. A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the prion is derived from brain tissue, other central nervous system tissue, a tissue of the lymphoreticular system, cerebrospinal fluid and/or the blood.

15. A method for identifying infection in an animal and/or tissue, as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the electrophoresis pattern of the known sample has a pattern substantially similar to that of type 4 as shown in FIG. 4 .

16. The method of claim 5 , wherein the spongiform encephalopathy is selected from the group consisting of bovine, feline, cervine, ovine, human, primate, and murine.

17. The method of claim 8 , wherein the spongiform encephalopathy is selected from the group consisting of bovine, feline, cervine, ovine, human, primate, and murine.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the spongiform encephalopathy is selected from the group consisting of bovine, feline, cervine, ovine, human, primate, and murine.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein the prion is derived from a tissue of the lymphoreticular system selected from the group consisting of spleen, tonsil, and lymph node.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the prion is derived from a tissue of the lymphoreticular system selected from the group consisting of spleen, tonsil, and lymph node.