CEA SEPIA, prion and atypical infections unit of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Fontenay-aux-Roses)

Key facts

• The national research structure directory lists SEPIA (record 201722561D) as a CEA research unit created in 2017 at the Fontenay-aux-Roses centre, wholly part of the Institut de Biologie Francois Jacob, with Universite Paris-Saclay as a participating institution from 2020 and Jean-Philippe Deslys as head from 1 January 2017; the record was last updated in July 2023.
• The ANR project UnmaskingBloodPrions (ANR-15-CE18-0028) was coordinated by Emmanuel Comoy at CEA iMETI SEPIA, started in December 2015 for 36 months with 655,720 euro, and aimed at proof of concept tools to detect classical and atypical abnormal prion protein in blood using epitope unmasking, towards a large scale screening test plus sensitive confirmatory tests to limit transfusion spread.
• SEPIA co-authored the 2014 PLoS Pathogens study led by INRA-ENVT Toulouse that optimised PMCA with an ovine PrP substrate: it detected variant CJD and BSE agents in blood of sheep and primates at the early preclinical stage and, in a blind panel, identified 3 of 4 variant CJD patients with no false positives among 141 healthy controls. Hospices Civils de Lyon, INRA Jouy-en-Josas and an EFS regional laboratory were also partners.
• In a 2015 Transfusion report with Macopharma, macaques transfused with variant CJD infected blood products were followed for about six years: most that received unfiltered products developed neurological signs, those given P-Capt filtered products stayed free of signs and of detectable prion protein in lymph node biopsies, and one given a prototype filter developed variant CJD. The work was funded by the ANR project PrionSecur.
• A 2015 Scientific Reports paper from the unit transmitted a classical scrapie isolate to a cynomolgus macaque after a silent incubation of about ten years, with a presentation resembling sporadic CJD, which the authors read as an argument for long term primate studies of other animal prion diseases.
• Decontamination has been a steady line of work: a 2007 paper (first author affiliation STERIS/CEA/DSV/iMETI/SEPIA) found gaseous hydrogen peroxide inactivated prions in vitro and in animals while liquid peroxide did not, and a 2023 study with the University of Southampton found that cold atmospheric plasma effluents, after an enzymatic pre-wash, stopped prion transmission from treated endoscope channels in a cell assay.
• SEPIA authors contributed to two studies of iatrogenic CJD in growth hormone recipients: the 2018 Paris Brain Institute study of 24 French cases and hormone batches made between 1974 and 1988, and the 2021 Toulouse led strain comparison of 11 French and 11 UK cases with the Edinburgh surveillance unit, which found the strains matched the two commonest sporadic CJD strains. Both acknowledge work that the unit is cited in; the 2021 paper acknowledges ANR-15-CE18-0028.
• Affiliation strings in the unit's papers changed over time, from CEA DSV/iMETI/SEPIA (2007) and CEA iMETI Division of Prions and Related Diseases (2014, 2015) to Universite Paris-Saclay, CEA, Service d'Etude des Prions et des Infections Atypiques (2020 to 2022) and CEA DRF/IBFJ/SEPIA (2023, 2024). No paper found gives MIRCen or IDMIT as the affiliation of the SEPIA authors, so no merger into those units is evidenced.
• The CEA coordinated NEUROPRION, the FP6 prion network of excellence, from 1 September 2003 to 31 December 2009 with 14.4 million euro of EU contribution and 40 participant organisations; the network was launched at Fontenay-aux-Roses on 28 May 2004, where the CEA also opened a new prion research facility, and a 2021 seminar listing says the SEPIA team coordinates the NeuroPrion Association.
• The newest SEPIA prion publication found is a July 2024 Journal of Biological Chemistry paper on prion transmission in human PrP transgenic Drosophila; the newest hit with a SEPIA affiliation of any kind is a 2025 paper on quality control for cerebral cortical organoids, which is not prion work.

Timeline

1. 2003NEUROPRION, the EU prion network of excellence coordinated by the CEA, starts.
2. 2004NEUROPRION is launched at Fontenay-aux-Roses and the CEA opens a new prion research facility there.
3. 2007Gaseous hydrogen peroxide prion inactivation paper published, with a STERIS and CEA iMETI SEPIA first affiliation.
4. 2009NEUROPRION ends.
5. 2014Preclinical detection of variant CJD and BSE prions in blood published with INRA Toulouse.
6. 2015Five year update on primates transfused with filtered variant CJD blood products published.
7. 2015Transmission of classical scrapie to a macaque after about ten years reported.
8. 2015ANR UnmaskingBloodPrions starts, coordinated by the unit, 36 months, 655,720 euro.
9. 2017Jean-Philippe Deslys recorded as head of SEPIA in the national research directory.
10. 2017The label SEPIA is registered for the unit, created in 2017 within the Institut de Biologie Francois Jacob.
11. 2020Universite Paris-Saclay joins as a participating institution.
12. 2020Macaque study of vCJD and BSE transmission after a finger incision published, all seven authors at SEPIA.
13. 2021Strain study of French and UK growth hormone iatrogenic CJD cases published, acknowledging ANR-15-CE18-0028.
14. 2023Report that macaques exposed to prion contaminated blood products mostly developed a myelopathic disease outside classical vCJD criteria.
15. 2024Most recent prion paper found with a SEPIA affiliation.