The role of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) played in prions is still in controversy. By using heparin as an example, we investigated the interaction of GAGs and recombinant human cellular prion protein (rhPrP^C_23-231) by measuring the spectral features of the resonance light scattering (RLS), fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD). It was found that the intensity of both RLS and fluorescence get increased when the interaction of heparin with rhPrP^C_23-231 occurred, with the extension of the fluorescence lifetime. Meanwhile, the CD spectra indicate that heparin could induce the conformation rich in alfa-helix change to conformation rich in beta-sheet.

Key words: prion, prion protein, glycosaminoglycans