BSE - prion heat resistance

[Louis Hom]

In article <316013A3.2F52 at nzdri.org.nz>,
Grant Boston  <grant.boston at nzdri.org.nz> wrote:
>the prion protein has been shown to be stable under 340 C dry heat for 1 
>hour, 140 C autoclave for 1 hour, and 130 C dry heat for 12 hours!!! An 
>amazingly strong protein especially as it's mode of action seems to 
>depend on the tertiary structure.

It seems odd to me that they would focus so much on stability in dry
conditions.  I would expect denaturation to be much more pronounced (and
relevant) in the presence of solvent (don't we lyophilize a lot of enzymes
for added stability?). 
-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
Lou Hom >K '93		       	 	  
lhom at nature.berkeley.edu  	
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lhom