Evaluation of removal of prion infectivity from red blood cells with prion reduction filters using a new rapid and highly sensitive cell culture-based infectivity assay.

These results demonstrate the utility of a highly sensitive cell culture-based infectivity assay for screening prion reduction filters. The use of this type of in vitro infectivity assay will substantially help expedite the screening and discovery of devices aimed at reducing the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease transmission through blood transfusion.