1
|
Kuru, the First Human Prion Disease. Viruses 2019; 11:v11030232. [PMID: 30866511 PMCID: PMC6466359 DOI: 10.3390/v11030232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Kuru, the first human prion disease was transmitted to chimpanzees by D. Carleton Gajdusek (1923–2008). In this review, we summarize the history of this seminal discovery, its anthropological background, epidemiology, clinical picture, neuropathology, and molecular genetics. We provide descriptions of electron microscopy and confocal microscopy of kuru amyloid plaques retrieved from a paraffin-embedded block of an old kuru case, named Kupenota. The discovery of kuru opened new vistas of human medicine and was pivotal in the subsequent transmission of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, as well as the relevance that bovine spongiform encephalopathy had for transmission to humans. The transmission of kuru was one of the greatest contributions to biomedical sciences of the 20th century.
Collapse
|
2
|
Scientific Opinion on a request for a review of a scientific publication concerning the zoonotic potential of ovine scrapie prions. EFSA J 2015. [DOI: 10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
|
3
|
Haïk S, Brandel JP. Infectious prion diseases in humans: cannibalism, iatrogenicity and zoonoses. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2014; 26:303-12. [PMID: 24956437 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2014.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2014] [Revised: 06/10/2014] [Accepted: 06/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
In contrast with other neurodegenerative disorders associated to protein misfolding, human prion diseases include infectious forms (also called transmitted forms) such as kuru, iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The transmissible agent is thought to be solely composed of the abnormal isoform (PrP(Sc)) of the host-encoded prion protein that accumulated in the central nervous system of affected individuals. Compared to its normal counterpart, PrP(Sc) is β-sheet enriched and aggregated and its propagation is based on an autocatalytic conversion process. Increasing evidence supports the view that conformational variations of PrP(Sc) encoded the biological properties of the various prion strains that have been isolated by transmission studies in experimental models. Infectious forms of human prion diseases played a pivotal role in the emergence of the prion concept and in the characterization of the very unconventional properties of prions. They provide a unique model to understand how prion strains are selected and propagate in humans. Here, we review and discuss how genetic factors interplay with strain properties and route of transmission to influence disease susceptibility, incubation period and phenotypic expression in the light of the kuru epidemics due to ritual endocannibalism, the various series iatrogenic diseases secondary to extractive growth hormone treatment or dura mater graft and the epidemics of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease linked to dietary exposure to the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Haïk
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06 UMR S 1127, Inserm, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, ICM, F-75013 Paris, France; AP-HP, Groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Cellule Nationale de Référence des Maladies de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, F-75013 Paris, France; Centre National de Référence des Agents Transmissibles Non Conventionnels, F-75013 Paris, France.
| | - Jean-Philippe Brandel
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06 UMR S 1127, Inserm, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, ICM, F-75013 Paris, France; AP-HP, Groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Cellule Nationale de Référence des Maladies de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, F-75013 Paris, France; Centre National de Référence des Agents Transmissibles Non Conventionnels, F-75013 Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Liberski PP. Kuru: a journey back in time from papua new Guinea to the neanderthals' extinction. Pathogens 2013; 2:472-505. [PMID: 25437203 PMCID: PMC4235695 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens2030472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2013] [Revised: 07/04/2013] [Accepted: 07/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Kuru, the first human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy was transmitted to chimpanzees by D. Carleton Gajdusek (1923-2008). In this review, I briefly summarize the history of this seminal discovery along its epidemiology, clinical picture, neuropathology and molecular genetics. The discovery of kuru opened new windows into the realms of human medicine and was instrumental in the later transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease as well as the relevance that bovine spongiform encephalopathy had for transmission to humans. The transmission of kuru was one of the greatest contributions to biomedical sciences of the 20th century.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pawel P Liberski
- Department of Molecular Pathology and Neuropathology, Medical University of Lodz, Kosciuszki st. 4, Lodz 90-419, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Abstract
Kuru was the first human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) or prion disease identified, occurring in the Fore linguistic group of Papua New Guinea. Kuru was a uniformly fatal cerebellar ataxic syndrome, usually followed by choreiform and athetoid movements. Kuru imposed a strong balancing selection on the Fore population, with individuals homozygous for the 129 Met allele of the gene (PRNP) encoding for prion protein (PrP) being the most susceptible. The decline in the incidence of kuru in the Fore has been attributed to the exhaustion of the susceptible genotype and ultimately by discontinuation of exposure via cannibalism. Neuropathologically, kuru-affected brains were characterized by widespread degeneration of neurons, astroglial and microglial proliferation, and the presence of amyloid plaques. These early findings have been confirmed and extended by recent immunohistochemical studies for the detection of the TSE-specific PrP (PrP). Confocal laser microscopy also showed the concentration of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive astrocytic processes at the plaque periphery. The fine structure of plaques corresponds to that described earlier by light microscopy. The successful experimental transmission of kuru led to the awareness of its similarity to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease and formed a background against which the recent epidemics of iatrogenic and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease could be studied.
Collapse
|
6
|
Joint Scientific Opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans. EFSA J 2011. [DOI: 10.2903/j.efsa.2011.1945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
|
7
|
VandeWoude S, Apetrei C. Going wild: lessons from naturally occurring T-lymphotropic lentiviruses. Clin Microbiol Rev 2006; 19:728-62. [PMID: 17041142 PMCID: PMC1592692 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00009-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 176] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Over 40 nonhuman primate (NHP) species harbor species-specific simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs). Similarly, more than 20 species of nondomestic felids and African hyenids demonstrate seroreactivity against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) antigens. While it has been challenging to study the biological implications of nonfatal infections in natural populations, epidemiologic and clinical studies performed thus far have only rarely detected increased morbidity or impaired fecundity/survival of naturally infected SIV- or FIV-seropositive versus -seronegative animals. Cross-species transmissions of these agents are rare in nature but have been used to develop experimental systems to evaluate mechanisms of pathogenicity and to develop animal models of HIV/AIDS. Given that felids and primates are substantially evolutionarily removed yet demonstrate the same pattern of apparently nonpathogenic lentiviral infections, comparison of the biological behaviors of these viruses can yield important implications for host-lentiviral adaptation which are relevant to human HIV/AIDS infection. This review therefore evaluates similarities in epidemiology, lentiviral genotyping, pathogenicity, host immune responses, and cross-species transmission of FIVs and factors associated with the establishment of lentiviral infections in new species. This comparison of consistent patterns in lentivirus biology will expose new directions for scientific inquiry for understanding the basis for virulence versus avirulence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sue VandeWoude
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80538-1619, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Apetrei C, Lerche NW, Pandrea I, Gormus B, Silvestri G, Kaur A, Robertson DL, Hardcastle J, Lackner AA, Marx PA. Kuru experiments triggered the emergence of pathogenic SIVmac. AIDS 2006; 20:317-21. [PMID: 16439864 DOI: 10.1097/01.aids.0000206498.71041.0e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Apetrei
- Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana 70433, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Affiliation(s)
- F E Cohen
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Medicine, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Shetty AK, Steele RW. Prion diseases. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 1997; 36:1-7. [PMID: 9007341 DOI: 10.1177/000992289703600101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- A K Shetty
- Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans 70112, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
|
12
|
|
13
|
|
14
|
Gambarelli D, Vuillon-Cacciuttolo G, Toga M, Bert J. Anatomical study of experimental kuru in the Rhesus monkey. Acta Neuropathol 1981; 53:337-41. [PMID: 7223377 DOI: 10.1007/bf00690377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The authors report the morphology and topography of CNS lesions in experimental kuru (third passage) in the rhesus monkey. The main lesions encountered are spongiosis of the neuropile with neuronal vacuolization, moderate astrocytic gliosis, and slight neuronal depopulation. In all cases, lesions predominated in the grey matter of the cerebral hemispheres (cortex, neostriatum). Lesions were minimal in cerebellum and brain stem. The authors compare their results with these observed species of Primates (chimpanzee, spider monkey, marmoset, squirrel monkey).
Collapse
|
15
|
Abstract
The laboratory transmission to animals of an apparently degenerative disease of the nervous system, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), is now well established. Important questions arising from this observation are the possibility of natural transmission or infectivity and the existence of other similarly transmissible diseases. Epidemiological studies have revealed some possible clusters of CJD and also an association with previous craniotomy, but there is no definite evidence of natural infection. A few instances have been reported of experimental CJD in animals following inoculation with material from Alzheimer's disease, but apart from this there is so far no evidence of transmission of any other form of degenerative nervous disease.
Collapse
|
16
|
Yu RK, Ledeen RW, Gajdusek DC, Gibbs CJ. Ganglioside changes in slow virus diseases: analyses of chimpanzee brains infected with kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob agents. Brain Res 1974; 70:103-12. [PMID: 4207047 DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(74)90215-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
|
17
|
Gibbs CJ, Gajdusek DC. Experimental subacute spongiform virus encephalopathies in primates and other laboratory animals. Science 1973; 182:67-8. [PMID: 4199733 DOI: 10.1126/science.182.4107.67] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The host range of subacute spongiform virus encephalopathies is described. The asymptomatic incubation period and the duration of the illnesses in various species of animal hosts is discussed along with information on additional species of Old World and New World monkeys and the domestic cat, which have been shown to be susceptible to subacute spongiform virus encephalopathies.
Collapse
|
18
|
|