The scrapie agent in vitro

The standard scrapie cell assay: development, utility and prospects

Prion diseases are a family of fatal neurodegenerative diseases that involve the misfolding of a host protein, PrP^C. Measuring prion infectivity is necessary for determining efficacy of a treatment or infectivity of a prion purification procedure; animal bioassays are, however, very expensive and time consuming. The Standard Scrapie Cell Assay (SSCA) provides an alternative approach. The SSCA facilitates quantitative in vitro analysis of prion strains, titres and biological properties. Given its robust nature and potential for high throughput, the SSCA has substantial utility for in vitro characterization of prions and can be deployed in a number of settings. Here we provide an overview on establishing the SSCA, its use in studies of disease dissemination and pathogenesis, potential pitfalls and a number of remaining challenges.

Cellular aspects of prion replication in vitro

Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurodegenerative disorders in mammals that are caused by unconventional agents predominantly composed of aggregated misfolded prion protein (PrP). Prions self-propagate by recruitment of host-encoded PrP into highly ordered β-sheet rich aggregates. Prion strains differ in their clinical, pathological and biochemical characteristics and are likely to be the consequence of distinct abnormal prion protein conformers that stably replicate their alternate states in the host cell. Understanding prion cell biology is fundamental for identifying potential drug targets for disease intervention. The development of permissive cell culture models has greatly enhanced our knowledge on entry, propagation and dissemination of TSE agents. However, despite extensive research, the precise mechanism of prion infection and potential strain effects remain enigmatic. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the cell biology and propagation of prions derived from cell culture experiments. We discuss recent findings on the trafficking of cellular and pathologic PrP, the potential sites of abnormal prion protein synthesis and potential co-factors involved in prion entry and propagation.

Down-regulation of Shadoo in prion infections traces a pre-clinical event inversely related to PrP(Sc) accumulation

During prion infections of the central nervous system (CNS) the cellular prion protein, PrP(C), is templated to a conformationally distinct form, PrP(Sc). Recent studies have demonstrated that the Sprn gene encodes a GPI-linked glycoprotein Shadoo (Sho), which localizes to a similar membrane environment as PrP(C) and is reduced in the brains of rodents with terminal prion disease. Here, analyses of prion-infected mice revealed that down-regulation of Sho protein was not related to Sprn mRNA abundance at any stage in prion infection. Down-regulation was robust upon propagation of a variety of prion strains in Prnp(a) and Prnp(b) mice, with the exception of the mouse-adapted BSE strain 301 V. In addition, Sho encoded by a TgSprn transgene was down-regulated to the same extent as endogenous Sho. Reduced Sho levels were not seen in a tauopathy, in chemically induced spongiform degeneration or in transgenic mice expressing the extracellular ADan amyloid peptide of familial Danish dementia. Insofar as prion-infected Prnp hemizygous mice exhibited accumulation of PrP(Sc) and down-regulation of Sho hundreds of days prior to onset of neurologic symptoms, Sho depletion can be excluded as an important trigger for clinical disease or as a simple consequence of neuronal damage. These studies instead define a disease-specific effect, and we hypothesize that membrane-associated Sho comprises a bystander substrate for processes degrading PrP(Sc). Thus, while protease-resistant PrP detected by in vitro digestion allows post mortem diagnosis, decreased levels of endogenous Sho may trace an early response to PrP(Sc) accumulation that operates in the CNS in vivo. This cellular response may offer new insights into the homeostatic mechanisms involved in detection and clearance of the misfolded proteins that drive prion disease pathogenesis.

Prion infection of epithelial Rov cells is a polarized event

During prion infections, the cellular glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein PrP is converted into a conformational isoform. This abnormal conformer is thought to recruit and convert the normal cellular PrP into a likeness of itself and is proposed to be the infectious agent. We investigated the distribution of the PrP protein on the surface of Rov cells, an epithelial cell line highly permissive to prion multiplication, and we found that PrP is primarily expressed on the apical side. We further show that prion transmission to Rov cells is much more efficient if infectivity contacts the apical side, indicating that the apical and basolateral sides of Rov cells are not equally competent for prion infection and adding prions to the list of the conventional infectious agents (viruses and bacteria) that infect epithelial cells in a polarized manner. These data raise the possibility that apically expressed PrP may be involved in this polarized process of infection. This would add further support for a crucial role of PrP at the cell surface in prion infection of target cells.

Two Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agents reproduce prion protein-independent identities in cell cultures

Human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and similar neurodegenerative diseases such as sheep scrapie are caused by a variety of related infectious agents. They are associated with abnormal host prion protein (PrP), which is assessed by limited proteolysis to yield resistant PrP bands (PrP-res). Although PrP-res has been posited as the infectious agent, purified PrP-res itself is not infectious. To establish the independence of CJD agent characteristics from those of PrP-res, two different mouse-passaged CJD strains were propagated in neuronal cell lines whose PrP-res patterns differ markedly from each other and from those found in infected brain. In mouse brain, the fast CJD strain, FU, elicits many PrP-res deposits, whereas the slow SY strain elicits few. Both strains evoked PrP-res in cultured murine cells, although SY induced PrP-res only transiently. PrP-res patterns in FU- and SY-infected GT1 cells were identical, and were significantly different from those in brain and in N2a cells. Nevertheless, all FU-infected cell lines reproduced their original fast disease in mice, even after extensive subculture, whereas SY-infected cells produced only slow disease. These data indicate PrP-res neither encodes nor alters agent-specific characteristics. PrP-res was also a poor predictor of infectivity because SY cells that had lost PrP-res were approximately 10-fold more infectious than PrP-res-positive cultures. Furthermore, FU titers increased 650-fold, whereas PrP-res remained constant. Passaged FU-infected cells had titers comparable to brain, and >30% of cells displayed abundant cytoplasmic PrP-res aggregates that may trap agent. The continuous substantial replication of CJD in monotypic cells will further the discrimination of agent-specific molecules from pathological host responses to infection.

Prion propagation in cultured cells

Cell cultures represent relevant and useful experimental models of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). They are able to promote, upon subpassaging, stable and persistent replication of PrP(Sc) as well as infectivity. To date, only a few cell culture models permissive to prion replication are available. Among them, mouse neuroblastoma cell lines (N2a) are most commonly used. While they correspond to homologous models supporting propagation of mouse-adapted scrapie strains, recent studies have reported heterologous models sensitive to natural occurring disease. Infected cell culture models have provided some valuable insights into the biogenesis of PrP(Sc) in terms of conversion, subcellular localisations, physiopathological consequences and species-barrier determinants. They have also contributed to the screening and the study of possible therapeutic compounds and to the development of new strategies for the investigation of TSE-specific diagnostic markers.

Ex vivo propagation of infectious sheep scrapie agent in heterologous epithelial cells expressing ovine prion protein

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases, are fatal degenerative disorders of the central nervous system that affect humans and animals. Prions are nonconventional infectious agents whose replication depends on the host prion protein (PrP). Transmission of prions to cultured cells has proved to be a particularly difficult task, and with a few exceptions, their experimental propagation relies on inoculation to laboratory animals. Here, we report on the development of a permanent cell line supporting propagation of natural sheep scrapie. This model was obtained by stable expression of a tetracycline-regulatable ovine PrP gene in a rabbit epithelial cell line. After exposure to scrapie agent, cultures were repeatedly found to accumulate high levels of abnormal PrP (PrPres). Cell extracts induced a scrapie-like disease in transgenic mice overexpressing ovine PrP. These cultures remained healthy and stably infected upon subpassaging. Such data show that (i) cultivated cells from a nonneuronal origin can efficiently replicate prions; and (ii) species barrier can be crossed ex vivo through the expression of a relevant PrP gene. This approach led to the ex vivo propagation of a natural transmissible spongiform encephalopathy agent (i.e., without previous experimental adaptation to rodents) and might be applied to human or bovine prions.

Establishment of astrocyte cell lines from sheep genetically susceptible to scrapie

Primary cultures of the brain from sheep embryos were used to establish cell lines after transfection by the simian virus 40 (SV40) large T gene. Two of the lines (A15 and 4A6) displayed astroglial properties. They expressed the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), intermediate filament protein vimentin, and S-100 (beta-subunit) protein. While numerous rodent and human glial cell lines are available, this is to our knowledge the first description of ovine cell lines with astrocyte features. In addition, these cell lines were derived from sheep embryos chosen for their genetic susceptibility to scrapie (PrP genotype: VV136, QQ171). Therefore, they could be attractive tissue culture models for the study of propagation and pathogenesis of the scrapie agent ex vivo.