Safe method for isolation of prion protein and diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a fatal progressive infectious encephalopathy of humans characterized by spongiform degeneration of the brain. Detection of protease-resistant low molecular weight proteins, referred to as 'prions', in the brain is essential for diagnosis. Protease-based methods for prion detection are problematic due to variable susceptibility of prion proteins to proteinase-K digestion.