Atarashi R et al. 2011, Ultrasensitive human prion detection in cerebrospinal fluid by real-time quaking-induced conversion (Nat Med 17:175-178, PMID 21278748, doi 10.1038/nm.2294)

This short Nature Medicine report by Atarashi, Satoh, Collins, Nishida and 13 co-authors introduced real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) as a test on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Per the abstract, the assay picked up as little as 1 femtogram of abnormal prion protein in diluted CJD brain material, was first tried on Japanese subjects, and was then checked in a blinded set of 30 Australian CSF specimens, giving above 80 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity. It is the usual starting reference for CSF RT-QuIC as a way to support diagnosis in life. Read depth: registry records and abstracts only (PubMed, Europe PMC, Crossref); the full text is paywalled at the publisher and a free repository copy could not be opened, so nothing below goes beyond the abstract. Information only, not medical advice.

Key facts

  • Citation verified: Nature Medicine, volume 17, issue 2, pages 175-178, published online 30 January 2011 and in the February 2011 issue, DOI 10.1038/nm.2294, PMID 21278748.
  • The paper has 17 authors; first author Atarashi R is listed at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Nagasaki University, and the last author is Nishida N.
  • Co-authors include Satoh K, Kitamoto T, Klug G, McGlade A and Collins SJ.
  • The assay detected at least 1 fg of abnormal prion protein in diluted CJD brain homogenate.
  • Testing started in Japanese subjects and moved to a blinded study of 30 CSF specimens from Australia.
  • The abstract reports greater than 80 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity, and concludes the test may improve diagnosis of suspected CJD during life.
  • Europe PMC records the paper as not open access and not in PMC, with a free copy in the Nagasaki University repository (not opened here).
  • A 2015 follow-on paper from the Caughey group describes an improved CSF RT-QuIC that flagged positives in 4 to 14 hours against 2.5 to 5 days for earlier tests, with 95.8 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity in its set, which places the 2011 assay as an early generation.

Timeline

  1. 2011Paper published online in Nature Medicine.
  2. 2011Appears in print, volume 17 issue 2, pages 175-178.
  3. 2015Improved CSF RT-QuIC reported in mBio with much shorter time to a positive result.

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Last checked 1 November 2026

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