Anti-Prion Protein Antibody, clone POM2 clone POM2, from mouse

Major prion protein (UniProt: P04925; also known as PrP, PrP27-30, PrP33-35C, CD230) is encoded by the Prnp (also known as Prn-p, Prp) gene (Gene ID: 19122) in murine species. PrP is highly expressed in the brain, lung, kidney and heart and low levels of expression are reported in the liver and spleen. It is found in high quantity in the brain of humans and animals infected with degenerative neurological diseases such as Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome (GSS), scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME). In normal brain it may play a role in neuronal development and synaptic plasticity and may be required for neuronal myelin sheath maintenance and myelin homeostasis through acting as an agonist for ADGRG6 receptor. PrP can exist in either PrPc (c = cellular) or PrPsc (sc = Scrapie) form. PrPc is a glycoprotein normally found inserted in the plasma membrane by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor and can be easily digested by proteases. It is composed mainly of alpha-helices. The PrPsc has more of a beta-sheet type structure and is highly resistant to the action of proteases. The prion proteins possess two N-linked glycosylation sites and may contain over 50 different sugars. The large size of the N-linked sugars enables them to shield two orthogonal faces of the protein almost completely and protect large regions of the protein surface from proteases. The PrPsc is shown to contain the same set of glycans as PrPc, but has a higher proportion of tri- and tetra-antennary sugars. Multiplication of prion proteins appears to be slower in vivo than in vitro. It is shown that following proteinase K treatment, PrPc is completely digested, whereas PrPsc is only shortened to a 27-30 kDa fragment. (Ref.: Meisl, G., et al. (2021). Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 28(4); 365-372).