Structural studies of the scrapie prion protein by electron crystallography

Because the insolubility of the scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) has frustrated structural studies by x-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy, we used electron crystallography to characterize the structure of two infectious variants of the prion protein. Isomorphous two-dimensional crystals of the N-terminally truncated PrPSc (PrP 27-30) and a miniprion (PrP(Sc)106) were identified by negative stain electron microscopy. Image processing allowed the extraction of limited structural information to 7 Angstrom resolution. By comparing projection maps of PrP 27-30 and PrP(Sc)106, we visualized the 36-residue internal deletion of the miniprion and localized the Winked sugars. The dimensions of the monomer and the locations of the deleted segment and sugars were used as constraints in the construction of models for PrPSc. Only models featuring parallel beta-helices as the key element could satisfy the constraints. These low-resolution projection maps and models have implications for understanding prion propagation and the pathogenesis of neuro-degeneration.