Journal of General Virology, Vol 78, 2389-2396, Copyright © 1997 by Society for General Microbiology

ARTICLES

Immunodetection of PrPSc in spleens of some scrapie-infected sheep but not BSE-infected cows

RA Somerville, CR Birkett, CF Farquhar, N Hunter, W Goldmann, J Dornan, D Grover, RM Hennion, C Percy, J Foster and M Jeffrey
BBSRC & MRC Neuropathogenesis Unit, Institute for Animal Health, Edinburgh, UK. robert.somerville@bbsrc.ac.uk

The development of diagnostic tools for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) would greatly assist their study and may provide assistance in controlling the disease. The detection of an abnormal form of the host protein PrP in noncentral nervous system tissues may form the basis for diagnosis of TSEs. Using a new antibody reagent to PrP produced in chickens, PrP can be readily detected in crude tissue extracts. PrP from uninfected spleen had a lower molecular mass range than PrP from brain, suggesting a lower degree of glycosylation. A simple method for detecting the abnormal form of the protein, PrPSc, in ruminant brain and spleen has been developed. PrPSc was detected in sheep spleen extracts from a flock affected by natural scrapie and was also found in spleens from some, but not all, experimental TSE cases. In spleens from cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) no PrPSc was detected. It is therefore suggested that there is differential targeting of PrPSc deposition between organs in these different types of TSE infection which, with other factors, depends on strain of infecting agent.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. C. Bartz, C. DeJoia, T. Tucker, A. E. Kincaid, and R. A. Bessen Extraneural Prion Neuroinvasion without Lymphoreticular System Infection J. Virol., September 15, 2005; 79(18): 11858 - 11863. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Bartz, J. M. Aiken, and R. A. Bessen Delay in onset of prion disease for the HY strain of transmissible mink encephalopathy as a result of prior peripheral inoculation with the replication-deficient DY strain J. Gen. Virol., January 1, 2004; 85(1): 265 - 273. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Aucouturier and C. Carnaud The immune system and prion diseases: a relationship of complicity and blindness J. Leukoc. Biol., December 1, 2002; 72(6): 1075 - 1083. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. J. Sigurdson, C. Barillas-Mury, M. W. Miller, B. Oesch, L. J. M. van Keulen, J. P. M. Langeveld, and E. A. Hoover PrPCWD lymphoid cell targets in early and advanced chronic wasting disease of mule deer J. Gen. Virol., October 1, 2002; 83(10): 2617 - 2628. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. A. Mabbott, G. McGovern, M. Jeffrey, and M. E. Bruce Temporary Blockade of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Signaling Pathway Impedes the Spread of Scrapie to the Brain J. Virol., April 16, 2002; 76(10): 5131 - 5139. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. A. Mabbott and M. E. Bruce The immunobiology of TSE diseases J. Gen. Virol., October 1, 2001; 82(10): 2307 - 2318. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Bossers, R. de Vries, and M. A. Smits Susceptibility of Sheep for Scrapie as Assessed by In Vitro Conversion of Nine Naturally Occurring Variants of PrP J. Virol., February 1, 2000; 74(3): 1407 - 1414. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A T McKie, P S Zammit, and R J Naftalin Comparison of cattle and sheep colonic permeabilities to horseradish peroxidase and hamster scrapie prion protein in vitro Gut, December 1, 1999; 45(6): 879 - 888. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]