1
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Sola D, Betancor M, Marco Lorente PA, Pérez Lázaro S, Barrio T, Sevilla E, Marín B, Moreno B, Monzón M, Acín C, Bolea R, Badiola JJ, Otero A. Diagnosis in Scrapie: Conventional Methods and New Biomarkers. Pathogens 2023; 12:1399. [PMID: 38133284 PMCID: PMC10746075 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12121399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Scrapie, a naturally occurring prion disease affecting goats and sheep, comprises classical and atypical forms, with classical scrapie being the archetype of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. This review explores the challenges of scrapie diagnosis and the utility of various biomarkers and their potential implications for human prion diseases. Understanding these biomarkers in the context of scrapie may enable earlier prion disease diagnosis in humans, which is crucial for effective intervention. Research on scrapie biomarkers bridges the gap between veterinary and human medicine, offering hope for the early detection and improved management of prion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Sola
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Marina Betancor
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Paula A. Marco Lorente
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Sonia Pérez Lázaro
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Tomás Barrio
- Unité Mixte de Recherche de l’Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement1225 Interactions Hôtes-Agents Pathogènes, École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, 31076 Toulouse, France
| | - Eloisa Sevilla
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Belén Marín
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Bernardino Moreno
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Marta Monzón
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Cristina Acín
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Rosa Bolea
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Juan J. Badiola
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
| | - Alicia Otero
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (D.S.)
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2
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Olech M. Conventional and State-of-the-Art Detection Methods of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087135. [PMID: 37108297 PMCID: PMC10139118 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). It is believed that the infectious agent responsible for prion diseases is abnormally folded prion protein (PrPSc), which derives from a normal cellular protein (PrPC), which is a cell surface glycoprotein predominantly expressed in neurons. There are three different types of BSE, the classical BSE (C-type) strain and two atypical strains (H-type and L-type). BSE is primarily a disease of cattle; however, sheep and goats also can be infected with BSE strains and develop a disease clinically and pathogenically indistinguishable from scrapie. Therefore, TSE cases in cattle and small ruminants require discriminatory testing to determine whether the TSE is BSE or scrapie and to discriminate classical BSE from the atypical H- or L-type strains. Many methods have been developed for the detection of BSE and have been reported in numerous studies. Detection of BSE is mainly based on the identification of characteristic lesions or detection of the PrPSc in the brain, often by use of their partial proteinase K resistance properties. The objective of this paper was to summarize the currently available methods, highlight their diagnostic performance, and emphasize the advantages and drawbacks of the application of individual tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Olech
- Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
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3
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Block AJ, Bartz JC. Prion strains: shining new light on old concepts. Cell Tissue Res 2023; 392:113-133. [PMID: 35796874 PMCID: PMC11318079 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-022-03665-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of inevitably fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting numerous mammalian species, including humans. The existence of heritable phenotypes of disease in the natural host suggested that prions exist as distinct strains. Transmission of sheep scrapie to rodent models accelerated prion research, resulting in the isolation and characterization of numerous strains with distinct characteristics. These strains are grouped into categories based on the incubation period of disease in different strains of mice and also by how stable the strain properties were upon serial passage. These classical studies defined the host and agent parameters that affected strain properties, and, prior to the advent of the prion hypothesis, strain properties were hypothesized to be the result of mutations in a nucleic acid genome of a conventional pathogen. The development of the prion hypothesis challenged the paradigm of infectious agents, and, initially, the existence of strains was difficult to reconcile with a protein-only agent. In the decades since, much evidence has revealed how a protein-only infectious agent can perform complex biological functions. The prevailing hypothesis is that strain-specific conformations of PrPSc encode prion strain diversity. This hypothesis can provide a mechanism to explain the observed strain-specific differences in incubation period of disease, biochemical properties of PrPSc, tissue tropism, and subcellular patterns of pathology. This hypothesis also explains how prion strains mutate, evolve, and adapt to new species. These concepts are applicable to prion-like diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, where evidence of strain diversity is beginning to emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyssa J Block
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE, 68178, USA
| | - Jason C Bartz
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE, 68178, USA.
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4
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Castle AR, Wohlgemuth S, Arce L, Westaway D. Investigating CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive for production of disease-preventing prion gene alleles. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0269342. [PMID: 35671288 PMCID: PMC9173614 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders that includes chronic wasting disease, which affects cervids and is highly transmissible. Given that chronic wasting disease prevalence exceeds 30% in some endemic areas of North America, and that eventual transmission to other mammalian species, potentially including humans, cannot be ruled out, novel control strategies beyond population management via hunting and/or culling must be investigated. Prion diseases depend upon post-translational conversion of the cellular prion protein, encoded by the Prnp gene, into a disease-associated conformation; ablation of cellular prion protein expression, which is generally well-tolerated, eliminates prion disease susceptibility entirely. Inspired by demonstrations of gene drive in caged mosquito species, we aimed to test whether a CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drive mechanism could, in principle, promote the spread of a null Prnp allele among mammalian populations. First, we showed that transient co-expression of Cas9 and Prnp-directed guide RNAs in RK13 cells generates indels within the Prnp open-reading frame, indicating that repair of Cas9-induced double-strand breaks by non-homologous end-joining had taken place. Second, we integrated a ~1.2 kb donor DNA sequence into the Prnp open-reading frame in N2a cells by homology-directed repair following Cas9-induced cleavages and confirmed that integration occurred precisely in most cases. Third, we demonstrated that electroporation of Cas9/guide RNA ribonucleoprotein complexes into fertilised mouse oocytes resulted in pups with a variety of disruptions to the Prnp open reading frame, with a new coisogenic line of Prnp-null mice obtained as part of this work. However, a technical challenge in obtaining expression of Cas9 in the male germline prevented implementation of a complete gene drive mechanism in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Castle
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Serene Wohlgemuth
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Luis Arce
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - David Westaway
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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5
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Marín B, Otero A, Lugan S, Espinosa JC, Marín-Moreno A, Vidal E, Hedman C, Romero A, Pumarola M, Badiola JJ, Torres JM, Andréoletti O, Bolea R. Classical BSE prions emerge from asymptomatic pigs challenged with atypical/Nor98 scrapie. Sci Rep 2021; 11:17428. [PMID: 34465826 PMCID: PMC8408226 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96818-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Pigs are susceptible to infection with the classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (C-BSE) agent following experimental inoculation, and PrPSc accumulation was detected in porcine tissues after the inoculation of certain scrapie and chronic wasting disease isolates. However, a robust transmission barrier has been described in this species and, although they were exposed to C-BSE agent in many European countries, no cases of natural transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) infections have been reported in pigs. Transmission of atypical scrapie to bovinized mice resulted in the emergence of C-BSE prions. Here, we conducted a study to determine if pigs are susceptible to atypical scrapie. To this end, 12, 8-9-month-old minipigs were intracerebrally inoculated with two atypical scrapie sources. Animals were euthanized between 22- and 72-months post inoculation without clinical signs of TSE. All pigs tested negative for PrPSc accumulation by enzyme immunoassay, immunohistochemistry, western blotting and bioassay in porcine PrP mice. Surprisingly, in vitro protein misfolding cyclic amplification demonstrated the presence of C-BSE prions in different brain areas from seven pigs inoculated with both atypical scrapie isolates. Our results suggest that pigs exposed to atypical scrapie prions could become a reservoir for C-BSE and corroborate that C-BSE prions emerge during interspecies passage of atypical scrapie.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belén Marín
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, C/ Miguel Servet 177, 50013, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Alicia Otero
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, C/ Miguel Servet 177, 50013, Zaragoza, Spain.
| | - Séverine Lugan
- UMR Institut National de La Recherche Agronomique (INRA)/École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT) 1225, Interactions Hôtes Agents Pathogènes, 31076, Toulouse, France
| | - Juan Carlos Espinosa
- Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (CISA-INIA), 28130, Valdeolmos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alba Marín-Moreno
- Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (CISA-INIA), 28130, Valdeolmos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Enric Vidal
- Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)-Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlos Hedman
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, C/ Miguel Servet 177, 50013, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Antonio Romero
- Servicio de Cirugía y Medicina Equina, Hospital Veterinario, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50013, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Martí Pumarola
- Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan J Badiola
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, C/ Miguel Servet 177, 50013, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Juan María Torres
- Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (CISA-INIA), 28130, Valdeolmos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Olivier Andréoletti
- UMR Institut National de La Recherche Agronomique (INRA)/École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT) 1225, Interactions Hôtes Agents Pathogènes, 31076, Toulouse, France
| | - Rosa Bolea
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, C/ Miguel Servet 177, 50013, Zaragoza, Spain
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Siddiqi MK, Kim C, Haldiman T, Kacirova M, Wang B, Bohon J, Chance MR, Kiselar J, Safar JG. Structurally distinct external solvent-exposed domains drive replication of major human prions. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009642. [PMID: 34138981 PMCID: PMC8211289 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a limited understanding of structural attributes that encode the iatrogenic transmissibility and various phenotypes of prions causing the most common human prion disease, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Here we report the detailed structural differences between major sCJD MM1, MM2, and VV2 prions determined with two complementary synchrotron hydroxyl radical footprinting techniques—mass spectrometry (MS) and conformation dependent immunoassay (CDI) with a panel of Europium-labeled antibodies. Both approaches clearly demonstrate that the phenotypically distant prions differ in a major way with regard to their structural organization, and synchrotron-generated hydroxyl radicals progressively inhibit their seeding potency in a strain and structure-specific manner. Moreover, the seeding rate of sCJD prions is primarily determined by strain-specific structural organization of solvent-exposed external domains of human prion particles that control the seeding activity. Structural characteristics of human prion strains suggest that subtle changes in the organization of surface domains play a critical role as a determinant of human prion infectivity, propagation rate, and targeting of specific brain structures. Sporadic human prion diseases are conceivably the most heterogenous neurodegenerative disorders and a growing body of research indicates that they are caused by distinct strains of prions. By parallel monitoring their replication potency and progressive hydroxyl radical modification of amino acid side chains during synchrotron irradiation, we identified major differences in the structural organization that correlate with distinct inactivation susceptibility of a given human prion strain. Furthermore, our data demonstrated, for the first time, that seeding activity of different strains of infectious brain-derived human prions is primarily function of distinct solvent-exposed structural domains, and implicate them in the initial binding of cellular isoform of prion protein (PrPC) as a critical step in human prion replication and infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chae Kim
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Tracy Haldiman
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Miroslava Kacirova
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Benlian Wang
- Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.,Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Case Center for Synchrotron Biosciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, United States of America
| | - Jen Bohon
- Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.,Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Case Center for Synchrotron Biosciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, United States of America
| | - Mark R Chance
- Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.,Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Case Center for Synchrotron Biosciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, United States of America
| | - Janna Kiselar
- Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.,Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Case Center for Synchrotron Biosciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, United States of America
| | - Jiri G Safar
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.,Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
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Further Characterization of Glycoform-Selective Prions of Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy. Pathogens 2021; 10:pathogens10050513. [PMID: 33922765 PMCID: PMC8146342 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10050513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Revised: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion is an infectious protein (PrPSc) that is derived from a cellular glycoprotein (PrPC) through a conformational transition and associated with a group of prion diseases in animals and humans. Characterization of proteinase K (PK)-resistant PrPSc by western blotting has been critical to diagnosis and understanding of prion diseases including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease in humans. However, formation as well as biochemical and biological properties of the glycoform-selective PrPSc in variably protease-sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr) remain poorly understood. Here we reveal that formation of the ladder-like PrPSc in VPSPr is a PK-dependent two-step process, which is enhanced by basic pH. Two sets of PrPSc fragments can be identified with antibodies directed against an intermediate or a C-terminal domain of the protein. Moreover, antibodies directed against specific PrP glycoforms reveal faster electrophoretic migrations of PrP fragments mono-glycosylated at residue 181 and 197 in VPSPr than those in sporadic CJD (sCJD). Finally, RT-QuIC assay indicates that PrPSc-seeding activity is lower and its lag time is longer in VPSPr than in sCJD. Our results suggest that the glycoform-selective PrPSc in VPSPr is associated with altered glycosylation, resulting in different PK-truncation and aggregation seeding activity compared to PrPSc in sCJD.
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Classical and Atypical Scrapie in Sheep and Goats. Review on the Etiology, Genetic Factors, Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Control Measures of Both Diseases. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11030691. [PMID: 33806658 PMCID: PMC7999988 DOI: 10.3390/ani11030691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases, such as scrapie, are neurodegenerative diseases with a fatal outcome, caused by a conformational change of the cellular prion protein (PrPC), originating with the pathogenic form (PrPSc). Classical scrapie in small ruminants is the paradigm of prion diseases, as it was the first transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) described and is the most studied. It is necessary to understand the etiological properties, the relevance of the transmission pathways, the infectivity of the tissues, and how we can improve the detection of the prion protein to encourage detection of the disease. The aim of this review is to perform an overview of classical and atypical scrapie disease in sheep and goats, detailing those special issues of the disease, such as genetic factors, diagnostic procedures, and surveillance approaches carried out in the European Union with the objective of controlling the dissemination of scrapie disease.
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9
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Munoz-Montesino C, Larkem D, Barbereau C, Igel-Egalon A, Truchet S, Jacquet E, Nhiri N, Moudjou M, Sizun C, Rezaei H, Béringue V, Dron M. A seven-residue deletion in PrP leads to generation of a spontaneous prion formed from C-terminal C1 fragment of PrP. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:14025-14039. [PMID: 32788216 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra120.014738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Prions result from a drastic conformational change of the host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrP), leading to the formation of β-sheet-rich, insoluble, and protease-resistant self-replicating assemblies (PrPSc). The cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in spontaneous prion formation in sporadic and inherited human prion diseases or equivalent animal diseases are poorly understood, in part because cell models of spontaneously forming prions are currently lacking. Here, extending studies on the role of the H2 α-helix C terminus of PrP, we found that deletion of the highly conserved 190HTVTTTT196 segment of ovine PrP led to spontaneous prion formation in the RK13 rabbit kidney cell model. On long-term passage, the mutant cells stably produced proteinase K (PK)-resistant, insoluble, and aggregated assemblies that were infectious for naïve cells expressing either the mutant protein or other PrPs with slightly different deletions in the same area. The electrophoretic pattern of the PK-resistant core of the spontaneous prion (ΔSpont) contained mainly C-terminal polypeptides akin to C1, the cell-surface anchored C-terminal moiety of PrP generated by natural cellular processing. RK13 cells expressing solely the Δ190-196 C1 PrP construct, in the absence of the full-length protein, were susceptible to ΔSpont prions. ΔSpont infection induced the conversion of the mutated C1 into a PK-resistant and infectious form perpetuating the biochemical characteristics of ΔSpont prion. In conclusion, this work provides a unique cell-derived system generating spontaneous prions and provides evidence that the 113 C-terminal residues of PrP are sufficient for a self-propagating prion entity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola Munoz-Montesino
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Djabir Larkem
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Clément Barbereau
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Angélique Igel-Egalon
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Sandrine Truchet
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Eric Jacquet
- Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Naïma Nhiri
- Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mohammed Moudjou
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Christina Sizun
- Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Human Rezaei
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Vincent Béringue
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Michel Dron
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, Jouy-en-Josas, France
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10
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Béringue V, Tixador P, Andréoletti O, Reine F, Castille J, Laï TL, Le Dur A, Laisné A, Herzog L, Passet B, Rezaei H, Vilotte JL, Laude H. Host prion protein expression levels impact prion tropism for the spleen. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1008283. [PMID: 32702070 PMCID: PMC7402522 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Prions are pathogens formed from abnormal conformers (PrPSc) of the host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrPC). PrPSc conformation to disease phenotype relationships extensively vary among prion strains. In particular, prions exhibit a strain-dependent tropism for lymphoid tissues. Prions can be composed of several substrain components. There is evidence that these substrains can propagate in distinct tissues (e.g. brain and spleen) of a single individual, providing an experimental paradigm to study the cause of prion tissue selectivity. Previously, we showed that PrPC expression levels feature in prion substrain selection in the brain. Transmission of sheep scrapie isolates (termed LAN) to multiple lines of transgenic mice expressing varying levels of ovine PrPC in their brains resulted in the phenotypic expression of the dominant sheep substrain in mice expressing near physiological PrPC levels, whereas a minor substrain replicated preferentially on high expresser mice. Considering that PrPC expression levels are markedly decreased in the spleen compared to the brain, we interrogate whether spleen PrPC dosage could drive prion selectivity. The outcome of the transmission of a large cohort of LAN isolates in the spleen from high expresser mice correlated with the replication rate dependency on PrPC amount. There was a prominent spleen colonization by the substrain preferentially replicating on low expresser mice and a relative incapacity of the substrain with higher-PrPC level need to propagate in the spleen. Early colonization of the spleen after intraperitoneal inoculation allowed neuropathological expression of the lymphoid substrain. In addition, a pair of substrain variants resulting from the adaptation of human prions to ovine high expresser mice, and exhibiting differing brain versus spleen tropism, showed different tropism on transmission to low expresser mice, with the lymphoid substrain colonizing the brain. Overall, these data suggest that PrPC expression levels are instrumental in prion lymphotropism. The cause of prion phenotype variation among prion strains remains poorly understood. In particular, prions replicate in a strain-dependent manner in the spleen. This can result in prion asymptomatic carriers. Based on our previous observations that dosage of the prion precursor (PrP) determined prion substrain selection in the brain, we examine whether PrP levels in the spleen could drive prion replication in this tissue, due to the low levels of the protein. We observe that the prion substrain with higher PrP need for replication does barely replicate in the spleen, while the component with low PrP need replicates efficiently. In addition, other human co-propagating prions with differing spleen and brain tropism showed different tropism on transmission to mice expressing low PrP levels, with the lymphoid substrain colonizing the brain. PrPC expression levels may thus be instrumental in prion tropism for the lymphoid tissue. From a diagnostic point of view, given the apparent complexity of prion diseases with respect to prion substrain composition, these data advocate to type extraneural tissues or fluids for a comprehensive identification of the circulating prions in susceptible mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Béringue
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
- * E-mail:
| | | | | | - Fabienne Reine
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Johan Castille
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Thanh-Lan Laï
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Annick Le Dur
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Aude Laisné
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Laetitia Herzog
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Bruno Passet
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Human Rezaei
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Jean-Luc Vilotte
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Hubert Laude
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM Jouy-en-Josas, France
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11
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Nemani SK, Xiao X, Cali I, Cracco L, Puoti G, Nigro M, Lavrich J, Bharara Singh A, Appleby BS, Sim VL, Notari S, Surewicz WK, Gambetti P. A novel mechanism of phenotypic heterogeneity in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2020; 8:85. [PMID: 32560672 PMCID: PMC7304206 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-020-00966-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
One of remarkable features of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the great phenotypic variability. Understanding the molecular basis of this variability has important implications for the development of therapeutic approaches. It is well established that, in many cases, phenotypic heterogeneity of sCJD is under control of two determinants: the genotype at the methionine (M)/valine (V) polymorphic codon 129 of the human prion protein gene and the type, 1 or 2, of the pathogenic and disease-related form of the prion protein, PrPD. However, this scenario fails to explain the existence of distinct heterozygous sCJDMV2 subtypes, where heterogeneity occurs without any variation of the 129 allotype and PrPD type. One of these subtypes, denoted sCJDMV2C, associated with PrPD type 2, is characterized by widespread spongiform degeneration of the cerebral cortex (C). The second variant, denoted sCJDMV2K, features prominent deposition of PrPD amyloid forming kuru type (K) plaques. Here we used a mass spectrometry based approach to test the hypothesis that phenotypic variability within the sCJDMV2 subtype is at least partly determined by the abundance of 129 M and 129 V polymorphic forms of proteinase K-resistant PrPD (resPrPD). Consistent with this hypothesis, our data demonstrated a strong correlation of the MV2C and MV2K phenotypes with the relative populations of protease-resistant forms of the pathogenic prion proteins, resPrPD-129 M and resPrPD-129 V, where resPrPD-129 M dominated in the sCJDMV2C variant and resPrPD-129 V in the sCJDMV2K variant. This finding suggests an important, previously unrecognized mechanism for phenotypic determination in human prion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satish K. Nemani
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Xiangzhu Xiao
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Ignazio Cali
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA ,grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Laura Cracco
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Gianfranco Puoti
- Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, 81100 Caserta, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Nigro
- Department of Mental Health and Emergency Psychiatry, P. O. “Maresca”, Asl Napoli 3 Sud, 80059 Torre del Greco, Italy
| | - Jody Lavrich
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Anuradha Bharara Singh
- grid.21925.3d0000 0004 1936 9000Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA
| | - Brian S. Appleby
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA ,grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA ,grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA ,grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Valerie L. Sim
- grid.17089.37Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G2M8 Canada
| | - Silvio Notari
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Witold K. Surewicz
- grid.67105.350000 0001 2164 3847Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Pierluigi Gambetti
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
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12
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Detection of Pathognomonic Biomarker PrP Sc and the Contribution of Cell Free-Amplification Techniques to the Diagnosis of Prion Diseases. Biomolecules 2020; 10:biom10030469. [PMID: 32204429 PMCID: PMC7175149 DOI: 10.3390/biom10030469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases are rapidly progressive neurodegenerative diseases, the clinical manifestation of which can resemble other promptly evolving neurological maladies. Therefore, the unequivocal ante-mortem diagnosis is highly challenging and was only possible by histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of the brain at necropsy. Although surrogate biomarkers of neurological damage have become invaluable to complement clinical data and provide more accurate diagnostics at early stages, other neurodegenerative diseases show similar alterations hindering the differential diagnosis. To solve that, the detection of the pathognomonic biomarker of disease, PrPSc, the aberrantly folded isoform of the prion protein, could be used. However, the amounts in easily accessible tissues or body fluids at pre-clinical or early clinical stages are extremely low for the standard detection methods. The solution comes from the recent development of in vitro prion propagation techniques, such as Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) and Real Time-Quaking Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC), which have been already applied to detect minute amounts of PrPSc in different matrixes and make early diagnosis of prion diseases feasible in a near future. Herein, the most relevant tissues and body fluids in which PrPSc has been detected in animals and humans are being reviewed, especially those in which cell-free prion propagation systems have been used with diagnostic purposes.
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13
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Abstract
Atypical/Nor98 scrapie (AS) is a prion disease of small ruminants. Currently there are no efficient measures to control this form of prion disease, and, importantly, the zoonotic potential and the risk that AS might represent for other farmed animal species remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the capacity of AS to propagate in bovine PrP transgenic mice. Unexpectedly, the transmission of AS isolates originating from 5 different European countries to bovine PrP mice resulted in the propagation of the classical BSE (c-BSE) agent. Detection of prion seeding activity in vitro by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) demonstrated that low levels of the c-BSE agent were present in the original AS isolates. C-BSE prion seeding activity was also detected in brain tissue of ovine PrP mice inoculated with limiting dilutions (endpoint titration) of ovine AS isolates. These results are consistent with the emergence and replication of c-BSE prions during the in vivo propagation of AS isolates in the natural host. These data also indicate that c-BSE prions, a known zonotic agent in humans, can emerge as a dominant prion strain during passage of AS between different species. These findings provide an unprecedented insight into the evolution of mammalian prion strain properties triggered by intra- and interspecies passage. From a public health perspective, the presence of c-BSE in AS isolates suggest that cattle exposure to small ruminant tissues and products could lead to new occurrences of c-BSE.
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14
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Langeveld JPM, Pirisinu L, Jacobs JG, Mazza M, Lantier I, Simon S, Andréoletti O, Acin C, Esposito E, Fast C, Groschup M, Goldmann W, Spiropoulos J, Sklaviadis T, Lantier F, Ekateriniadou L, Papasavva-Stylianou P, van Keulen LJM, Acutis PL, Agrimi U, Bossers A, Nonno R. Four types of scrapie in goats differentiated from each other and bovine spongiform encephalopathy by biochemical methods. Vet Res 2019; 50:97. [PMID: 31767033 PMCID: PMC6878695 DOI: 10.1186/s13567-019-0718-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Scrapie in goats has been known since 1942, the archetype of prion diseases in which only prion protein (PrP) in misfolded state (PrPSc) acts as infectious agent with fatal consequence. Emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) with its zoonotic behaviour and detection in goats enhanced fears that its source was located in small ruminants. However, in goats knowledge on prion strain typing is limited. A European-wide study is presented concerning the biochemical phenotypes of the protease resistant fraction of PrPSc (PrPres) in over thirty brain isolates from transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) affected goats collected in seven countries. Three different scrapie forms were found: classical scrapie (CS), Nor98/atypical scrapie and one case of CH1641 scrapie. In addition, CS was found in two variants-CS-1 and CS-2 (mainly Italy)-which differed in proteolytic resistance of the PrPres N-terminus. Suitable PrPres markers for discriminating CH1641 from BSE (C-type) appeared to be glycoprofile pattern, presence of two triplets instead of one, and structural (in)stability of its core amino acid region. None of the samples exhibited BSE like features. BSE and these four scrapie types, of which CS-2 is new, can be recognized in goats with combinations of a set of nine biochemical parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan P M Langeveld
- Wageningen BioVeterinary Research (WBVR), Wageningen University & Research, Houtribweg 39, 8221RA, Lelystad, The Netherlands.
| | - Laura Pirisinu
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS), 299-00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Jorg G Jacobs
- Wageningen BioVeterinary Research (WBVR), Wageningen University & Research, Houtribweg 39, 8221RA, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Mazza
- Italian Reference Centre for TSEs, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte (IZSTO), 10154, Turin, TO, Italy
| | - Isabelle Lantier
- UMR 1282 ISP, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), University of Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France
| | - Stéphanie Simon
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA), 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Olivier Andréoletti
- UMR INRA/ENVT 1225 IHAP, École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), 31300, Toulouse, France
| | - Cristina Acin
- Research Centre for TSE and Emerging Transmissible Diseases, University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR), 50013, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Elena Esposito
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS), 299-00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Christine Fast
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, 17493, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Martin Groschup
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, 17493, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Wilfred Goldmann
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh (UEDIN), Easter Bush, Midlothian, EH25 9RG, UK
| | - John Spiropoulos
- Department of Pathology, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - Theodoros Sklaviadis
- School of Pharmacy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Frederic Lantier
- UMR 1282 ISP, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), University of Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France
| | - Loukia Ekateriniadou
- Hellenic Agricultural Organization DEMETER, Veterinary Research Institute, 57001, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | - Lucien J M van Keulen
- Wageningen BioVeterinary Research (WBVR), Wageningen University & Research, Houtribweg 39, 8221RA, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Pier-Luigi Acutis
- Italian Reference Centre for TSEs, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte (IZSTO), 10154, Turin, TO, Italy
| | - Umberto Agrimi
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS), 299-00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Alex Bossers
- Wageningen BioVeterinary Research (WBVR), Wageningen University & Research, Houtribweg 39, 8221RA, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Romolo Nonno
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS), 299-00161, Rome, Italy
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15
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Abstract
Prion diseases are caused by the conversion of physiological PrPC into the pathogenic misfolded protein PrPSc, conferring new properties to PrPSc that vary upon prion strains. In this work, we analyze the thermostability of three prion strains (BSE, RML and 22L) that were heated at 98 °C for 2 hours. PrPSc resistance to proteinase K (PrPres), residual infectivity by mouse bioassay and in vitro templating activity by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) were studied. Heated strains showed a huge loss of PrPres and a radically different infectivity loss: RML was the most thermolabile strain (6 to 7 log10 infectivity loss), followed by 22L (5 log10) while BSE was the most thermostable strain with low or null infectivity reduction showing a clear dissociation between PrPres and infectivity. These results indicate that thermostability is a strain-specific feature, measurable by PMCA and mouse bioassay, and a great tool to distinguish prion strains.
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16
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Castle AR, Daude N, Gilch S, Westaway D. Application of high-throughput, capillary-based Western analysis to modulated cleavage of the cellular prion protein. J Biol Chem 2018; 294:2642-2650. [PMID: 30578300 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.006367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The cellular prion protein (PrPC) is a glycoprotein that is processed through several proteolytic pathways. Modulators of PrPC proteolysis are of interest because full-length PrPC and its cleavage fragments differ in their propensity to misfold, a process that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. PrPC may also act as a receptor for neurotoxic, oligomeric species of other proteins that are linked to neurodegeneration. Importantly, the PrPC C-terminal fragment C1 does not contain the reported binding sites for these oligomers. Western blotting would be a simple end point detection method for cell-based screening of compound libraries for effects on PrPC proteolysis or overall expression level. However, traditional Western blotting methods provide unreliable quantification and have only low throughput. Consequently, we explored capillary-based Western technology as a potential alternative; we believe that this study is the first to report analysis of PrPC using such an approach. We successfully optimized the detection and quantification of the deglycosylated forms of full-length PrPC and its C-terminal cleavage fragments C1 and C2, including simultaneous quantification of β-tubulin levels to control for loading error. We also developed and tested a method for performing all cell culture, lysis, and deglycosylation steps in 96-well microplates prior to capillary Western analysis. These advances represent steps along the way to the development of an automated, high-throughput screening pipeline to identify modulators of PrPC expression levels or proteolysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R Castle
- From the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2M8, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G3, Canada
| | - Nathalie Daude
- From the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2M8, Canada
| | - Sabine Gilch
- Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Calgary Prion Research Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada, and
| | - David Westaway
- From the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2M8, Canada .,Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G3, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada
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17
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Nemani SK, Notari S, Cali I, Alvarez VE, Kofskey D, Cohen M, Stern RA, Appleby B, Abrams J, Schonberger L, McKee A, Gambetti P. Co-occurrence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and prion disease. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2018; 6:140. [PMID: 30563563 PMCID: PMC6299534 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-018-0643-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2018] [Accepted: 12/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI). CTE is generally found in athletes participating in contact sports and military personnel exposed to explosive blasts but can also affect civilians. Clinically and pathologically, CTE overlaps with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a term mostly used in a clinical context. The histopathology of CTE is defined by the deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau protein in neurons and astrocytes preferentially with perivascular distribution and at the depths of the cortical sulci. In addition to hyperphosphorylated tau, other pathologic proteins are deposited in CTE, including amyloid β (Aβ), transactive response (TAR) DNA-binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) and α-synuclein. However, the coexistence of prion disease in CTE has not been observed. We report three cases of histopathologically validated CTE with co-existing sporadic prion disease. Two were identified in a cohort of 55 pathologically verified cases of CTE submitted to the CTE Center of Boston University. One was identified among brain tissues submitted to the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center of Case Western Reserve University. The histopathological phenotype and properties of the abnormal, disease-related prion protein (PrPD) of the three CTE cases were examined using lesion profile, immunohistochemistry, electrophoresis and conformational tests. Subjects with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) matched for age, PrP genotype and PrPD type were used as controls. The histopathology phenotype and PrPD properties of the three CTE subjects showed no significant differences from their respective sCJD controls suggesting that recurring neurotrauma or coexisting CTE pathology did not detectably impact the prion disease phenotype and PrPD conformational characteristics. Based on the reported incidence of sporadic prion disease, the detection of two cases with sCJD in the CTE Center series of 55 CTE cases by chance alone would be highly unlikely (p = 8.93*10- 6). Nevertheless, examination of a larger cohort of CTE is required to conclusively determine whether the risk of CJD is significantly increased in patients with CTE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satish Kumar Nemani
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Silvio Notari
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
| | - Ignazio Cali
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Victor E Alvarez
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 02130, USA
- Department of Neurology and Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Alzheimer's Disease Center and CTE Program, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Diane Kofskey
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Mark Cohen
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Robert A Stern
- Alzheimer's Disease Center and CTE Program, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Brian Appleby
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Joseph Abrams
- Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA
| | - Lawrence Schonberger
- Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA
| | - Ann McKee
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 02130, USA
- Department of Neurology and Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Alzheimer's Disease Center and CTE Program, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Pierluigi Gambetti
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
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18
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Douet JY, Lacroux C, Aron N, Head MW, Lugan S, Tillier C, Huor A, Cassard H, Arnold M, Beringue V, Ironside JW, Andréoletti O. Distribution and Quantitative Estimates of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Prions in Tissues of Clinical and Asymptomatic Patients. Emerg Infect Dis 2018; 23:946-956. [PMID: 28518033 PMCID: PMC5443438 DOI: 10.3201/eid2306.161734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
In the United-Kingdom, ≈1 of 2,000 persons could be infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Therefore, risk of transmission of vCJD by medical procedures remains a major concern for public health authorities. In this study, we used in vitro amplification of prions by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) to estimate distribution and level of the vCJD agent in 21 tissues from 4 patients who died of clinical vCJD and from 1 asymptomatic person with vCJD. PMCA identified major levels of vCJD prions in a range of tissues, including liver, salivary gland, kidney, lung, and bone marrow. Bioassays confirmed that the quantitative estimate of levels of vCJD prion accumulation provided by PMCA are indicative of vCJD infectivity levels in tissues. Findings provide critical data for the design of measures to minimize risk for iatrogenic transmission of vCJD.
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19
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Cali I, Cohen ML, Haik S, Parchi P, Giaccone G, Collins SJ, Kofskey D, Wang H, McLean CA, Brandel JP, Privat N, Sazdovitch V, Duyckaerts C, Kitamoto T, Belay ED, Maddox RA, Tagliavini F, Pocchiari M, Leschek E, Appleby BS, Safar JG, Schonberger LB, Gambetti P. Iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with Amyloid-β pathology: an international study. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2018; 6:5. [PMID: 29310723 PMCID: PMC5759292 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-017-0503-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The presence of pathology related to the deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) has been recently reported in iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (iCJD) acquired from inoculation of growth hormone (GH) extracted from human cadaveric pituitary gland or use of cadaveric dura mater (DM) grafts.To investigate this phenomenon further, a cohort of 27 iCJD cases - 21 with adequate number of histopathological sections - originating from Australia, France, Italy, and the Unites States, were examined by immunohistochemistry, amyloid staining, and Western blot analysis of the scrapie prion protein (PrPSc), and compared with age-group matched cases of sporadic CJD (sCJD), Alzheimer disease (AD) or free of neurodegenerative diseases (non-ND).Cases of iCJD and sCJD shared similar profiles of proteinase K-resistant PrPSc with the exception of iCJD harboring the "MMi" phenotype. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), either associated with, or free of, Thioflavin S-positive amyloid core plaques (CP), was observed in 52% of 21 cases of iCJD, which comprised 37.5% and 61.5% of the cases of GH- and DM-iCJD, respectively. If only cases younger than 54 years were considered, Aβ pathology affected 41%, 2% and 0% of iCJD, sCJD and non-ND, respectively. Despite the patients' younger age CAA was more severe in iCJD than sCJD, while Aβ diffuse plaques, in absence of Aβ CP, populated one third of sCJD. Aβ pathology was by far most severe in AD. Tau pathology was scanty in iCJD and sCJD.In conclusion, (i) despite the divergences in the use of cadaveric GH and DM products, our cases combined with previous studies showed remarkably similar iCJD and Aβ phenotypes indicating that the occurrence of Aβ pathology in iCJD is a widespread phenomenon, (ii) CAA emerges as the hallmark of the Aβ phenotype in iCJD since it is observed in nearly 90% of all iCJD with Aβ pathology reported to date including ours, and it is shared by GH- and DM-iCJD, (iii) although the contributions to Aβ pathology of other factors, including GH deficiency, cannot be discounted, our findings increase the mounting evidence that this pathology is acquired by a mechanism resembling that of prion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignazio Cali
- Departments of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
- Department of Pathology, 4th floor, room 402C, Case Western Reserve University, 2085 Adelbert Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
| | - Mark L Cohen
- Departments of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Stephane Haik
- Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris VI UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France
- AP-HP, Cellule Nationale de Référence des maladies de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
- AP-HP, Laboratoire de Neuropathologie R Escourolle, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Piero Parchi
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- IRCCS, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Bologna, Italy
| | - Giorgio Giaccone
- Fondazione IRCCS, Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | - Steven J Collins
- Australian National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Registry, Department of Medicine, and The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia
| | - Diane Kofskey
- Departments of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Han Wang
- Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Catriona A McLean
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Alfred Health, Melbourne, 3181, Australia
- Victorian Brain Bank, the Florey institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia
| | - Jean-Philippe Brandel
- Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris VI UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France
- AP-HP, Cellule Nationale de Référence des maladies de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Privat
- Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris VI UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France
| | - Véronique Sazdovitch
- Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris VI UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France
- AP-HP, Laboratoire de Neuropathologie R Escourolle, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Charles Duyckaerts
- Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris VI UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France
- AP-HP, Laboratoire de Neuropathologie R Escourolle, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Tetsuyuki Kitamoto
- Department of Neurological Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
| | - Ermias D Belay
- Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Ryan A Maddox
- Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | | | - Ellen Leschek
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Brian S Appleby
- Departments of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Departments of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Jiri G Safar
- Departments of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Departments of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Lawrence B Schonberger
- Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Pierluigi Gambetti
- Departments of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
- Department of Pathology, 4th floor, room 419, Case Western Reserve University, 2085 Adelbert Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
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Igel-Egalon A, Béringue V, Rezaei H, Sibille P. Prion Strains and Transmission Barrier Phenomena. Pathogens 2018; 7:E5. [PMID: 29301257 PMCID: PMC5874731 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens7010005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2017] [Revised: 12/25/2017] [Accepted: 12/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Several experimental evidences show that prions are non-conventional pathogens, which physical support consists only in proteins. This finding raised questions regarding the observed prion strain-to-strain variations and the species barrier that happened to be crossed with dramatic consequences on human health and veterinary policies during the last 3 decades. This review presents a focus on a few advances in the field of prion structure and prion strains characterization: from the historical approaches that allowed the concept of prion strains to emerge, to the last results demonstrating that a prion strain may in fact be a combination of a few quasi species with subtle biophysical specificities. Then, we will focus on the current knowledge on the factors that impact species barrier strength and species barrier crossing. Finally, we present probable scenarios on how the interaction of strain properties with host characteristics may account for differential selection of new conformer variants and eventually species barrier crossing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angélique Igel-Egalon
- Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, UR892, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
| | - Vincent Béringue
- Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, UR892, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
| | - Human Rezaei
- Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, UR892, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
| | - Pierre Sibille
- Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, UR892, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
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21
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Comoy EE, Mikol J, Jaffré N, Lebon V, Levavasseur E, Streichenberger N, Sumian C, Perret-Liaudet A, Eloit M, Andreoletti O, Haïk S, Hantraye P, Deslys JP. Experimental transfusion of variant CJD-infected blood reveals previously uncharacterised prion disorder in mice and macaque. Nat Commun 2017; 8:1268. [PMID: 29097653 PMCID: PMC5668246 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01347-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Exposure of human populations to bovine spongiform encephalopathy through contaminated food has resulted in <250 cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). However, more than 99% of vCJD infections could have remained silent suggesting a long-term risk of secondary transmission particularly through blood. Here, we present experimental evidence that transfusion in mice and non-human primates of blood products from symptomatic and non-symptomatic infected donors induces not only vCJD, but also a different class of neurological impairments. These impairments can all be retransmitted to mice with a pathognomonic accumulation of abnormal prion protein, thus expanding the spectrum of known prion diseases. Our findings suggest that the intravenous route promotes propagation of masked prion variants according to different mechanisms involved in peripheral replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel E Comoy
- CEA, Institut François Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, 18 Route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
| | - Jacqueline Mikol
- CEA, Institut François Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, 18 Route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Nina Jaffré
- CEA, Institut François Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, 18 Route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
- MacoPharma, 200 Chaussée Fernand Forest, 59200, Tourcoing, France
| | - Vincent Lebon
- CEA, Institut François Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, 18 Route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Etienne Levavasseur
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 1127, CNRS UMR 722, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, G.H. Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Nathalie Streichenberger
- Hospices Civils de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Institut NeuroMyogène CNRS UMR 5310-INSERM U1217, 59 Boulevard Pinel, 69677, Bron, France
| | - Chryslain Sumian
- MacoPharma, 200 Chaussée Fernand Forest, 59200, Tourcoing, France
| | - Armand Perret-Liaudet
- Hospices Civils de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Institut NeuroMyogène CNRS UMR 5310-INSERM U1217, 59 Boulevard Pinel, 69677, Bron, France
| | - Marc Eloit
- Institut Pasteur, 15 Rue du Docteur Roux, 75015, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Andreoletti
- UMR INRA-ENVT 1225, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, 23 chemin des Capelles, 31076, Toulouse, France
| | - Stéphane Haïk
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 1127, CNRS UMR 722, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, G.H. Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Philippe Hantraye
- CEA, Institut François Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, 18 Route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Jean-Philippe Deslys
- CEA, Institut François Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, 18 Route du Panorama, 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
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Serra F, Müller J, Gray J, Lüthi R, Dudas S, Czub S, Seuberlich T. PrP-C1 fragment in cattle brains reveals features of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated PrP sc. Brain Res 2017; 1659:19-28. [PMID: 28119056 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2017.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Revised: 01/05/2017] [Accepted: 01/12/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Three different types of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are known and supposedly caused by distinct prion strains: the classical (C-) BSE type that was typically found during the BSE epidemic, and two relatively rare atypical BSE types, termed H-BSE and L-BSE. The three BSE types differ in the molecular phenotype of the disease associated prion protein, namely the N-terminally truncated proteinase K (PK) resistant prion protein fragment (PrPres). In this study, we report and analyze yet another PrPres type (PrPres-2011), which was found in severely autolytic brain samples of two cows in the framework of disease surveillance in Switzerland in 2011. Analysis of brain tissues from these animals by PK titration and PK inhibitor assays ruled out the process of autolysis as the cause for the aberrant PrPres profile. Immunochemical characterization of the PrP fragments present in the 2011 cases by epitope mapping indicated that PrPres-2011 corresponds in its primary sequence to the physiologically occurring PrP-C1 fragment. However, high speed centrifugation, sucrose gradient assay and NaPTA precipitation revealed biochemical similarities between PrPres-2011 and the disease-associated prion protein found in BSE affected cattle in terms of detergent insolubility, PK resistance and PrP aggregation. Although it remains to be established whether PrPres-2011 is associated with a transmissible disease, our results point out the need of further research on the role the PrP-C1 aggregation and misfolding in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabienne Serra
- NeuroCenter, Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Joachim Müller
- Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty and Medical Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - John Gray
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Lethbridge Laboratory, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Ramona Lüthi
- NeuroCenter, Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Sandor Dudas
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Lethbridge Laboratory, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Stefanie Czub
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Lethbridge Laboratory, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Torsten Seuberlich
- NeuroCenter, Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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23
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Diseases of the Nervous System. Vet Med (Auckl) 2017. [PMCID: PMC7322266 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-7020-5246-0.00014-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Niedermeyer S, Eiden M, Toumazos P, Papasavva-Stylianou P, Ioannou I, Sklaviadis T, Panagiotidis C, Langeveld J, Bossers A, Kuczius T, Kaatz M, Groschup MH, Fast C. Genetic, histochemical and biochemical studies on goat TSE cases from Cyprus. Vet Res 2016; 47:99. [PMID: 27716411 PMCID: PMC5053211 DOI: 10.1186/s13567-016-0379-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE’s) affecting sheep and goats. Susceptibility of goats to scrapie is influenced by polymorphisms of the prion protein gene (PRNP) of the host. Five polymorphisms are associated with reduced susceptibility to TSE’s. In the study presented here caprine samples from a scrapie eradication program on Cyprus were genotyped and further characterized using BioRad TeSeE rapid test, histological, immunohistochemical and biochemical methods. In total 42 goats from 20 flocks were necropsied from which 25 goats showed a positive result in the rapid test, a spongiform encephalopathy and an accumulation of pathological prion protein (PrPSc) in the obex. PrPSc deposits were demonstrated in the placenta, peripheral nervous and lymphoreticular system. Two animals showed PrPSc-accumulations in peripheral tissues only. By discriminatory immunoblots a scrapie infection could be confirmed for all cases. Nevertheless, slight deviations in the glycosylation pattern might indicate the presence of different scrapie strains. Furthermore scrapie samples from goats in the current study demonstrated less long term resistance to proteinase K than ovine or caprine BSE control samples. Reduced scrapie susceptibility according to the PRNP genotype was demonstrated (Fishers Exact test, p < 0.05) for the goats with at least one polymorphism (p = 0.023) at the six codons examined and in particular for those with polymorphisms at codon 146 (p = 0.016). This work characterizes scrapie in goats having implications for breeding and surveillance strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Niedermeyer
- Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany
| | - Martin Eiden
- Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany
| | - Pavlos Toumazos
- Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, 1417, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | | | - Ioannis Ioannou
- Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, 1417, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Theodoros Sklaviadis
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Cynthia Panagiotidis
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Jan Langeveld
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Alex Bossers
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Thorsten Kuczius
- Institute for Hygiene, Westfälische Wilhelms-University and University Hospital Münster, Robert Koch-Strasse 41, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Martin Kaatz
- Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany
| | - Martin H Groschup
- Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany
| | - Christine Fast
- Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany.
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25
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Moore SJ, West Greenlee MH, Smith JD, Vrentas CE, Nicholson EM, Greenlee JJ. A Comparison of Classical and H-Type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Associated with E211K Prion Protein Polymorphism in Wild-Type and EK211 Cattle Following Intracranial Inoculation. Front Vet Sci 2016; 3:78. [PMID: 27695695 PMCID: PMC5023952 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
In 2006, a case of H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE-H) was diagnosed in a cow that was associated with a heritable polymorphism in the bovine prion protein gene (PRNP) resulting in a lysine for glutamate amino acid substitution at codon 211 (called E211K) of the prion protein. Although the prevalence of this polymorphism is low, cattle carrying the K211 allele may be predisposed to rapid onset of BSE-H when exposed or to the potential development of a genetic BSE. This study was conducted to better understand the relationship between the K211 polymorphism and its effect on BSE phenotype. BSE-H from the US 2006 case was inoculated intracranially (IC) in one PRNP wild-type (EE211) calf and one EK211 calf. In addition, one wild-type calf and one EK211 calf were inoculated IC with brain homogenate from a US 2003 classical BSE case. All cattle developed clinical disease. The survival time of the E211K BSE-H inoculated EK211 calf (10 months) was shorter than the wild-type calf (18 months). This genotype effect was not observed in classical BSE inoculated cattle (both 26 months). Significant changes in retinal function were observed in H-type BSE challenged cattle only. Cattle challenged with the same inoculum showed similar severity and neuroanatomical distribution of vacuolation and disease-associated prion protein deposition in the brain, though differences in neuropathology were observed between E211K BSE-H and classical BSE inoculated animals. Western blot results for brain tissue from challenged animals were consistent with the inoculum strains. This study demonstrates that the phenotype of E211K BSE-H remains stable when transmitted to cattle without the K211 polymorphism, and exhibits a number of features that differ from classical BSE in both wild-type and heterozygous EK211 animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Jo Moore
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture , Ames, IA , USA
| | - M Heather West Greenlee
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Interdepartmental Toxicology Program, Iowa State University , Ames, IA , USA
| | - Jodi D Smith
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture , Ames, IA , USA
| | - Catherine E Vrentas
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture , Ames, IA , USA
| | - Eric M Nicholson
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture , Ames, IA , USA
| | - Justin J Greenlee
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture , Ames, IA , USA
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26
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Generating Bona Fide Mammalian Prions with Internal Deletions. J Virol 2016; 90:6963-6975. [PMID: 27226369 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00555-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Mammalian prions are PrP proteins with altered structures causing transmissible fatal neurodegenerative diseases. They are self-perpetuating through formation of beta-sheet-rich assemblies that seed conformational change of cellular PrP. Pathological PrP usually forms an insoluble protease-resistant core exhibiting beta-sheet structures but no more alpha-helical content, loosing the three alpha-helices contained in the correctly folded PrP. The lack of a high-resolution prion structure makes it difficult to understand the dynamics of conversion and to identify elements of the protein involved in this process. To determine whether completeness of residues within the protease-resistant domain is required for prions, we performed serial deletions in the helix H2 C terminus of ovine PrP, since this region has previously shown some tolerance to sequence changes without preventing prion replication. Deletions of either four or five residues essentially preserved the overall PrP structure and mutant PrP expressed in RK13 cells were efficiently converted into bona fide prions upon challenge by three different prion strains. Remarkably, deletions in PrP facilitated the replication of two strains that otherwise do not replicate in this cellular context. Prions with internal deletion were self-propagating and de novo infectious for naive homologous and wild-type PrP-expressing cells. Moreover, they caused transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in mice, with similar biochemical signatures and neuropathologies other than the original strains. Prion convertibility and transfer of strain-specific information are thus preserved despite shortening of an alpha-helix in PrP and removal of residues within prions. These findings provide new insights into sequence/structure/infectivity relationship for prions. IMPORTANCE Prions are misfolded PrP proteins that convert the normal protein into a replicate of their own abnormal form. They are responsible for invariably fatal neurodegenerative disorders. Other aggregation-prone proteins appear to have a prion-like mode of expansion in brains, such as in Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases. To date, the resolution of prion structure remains elusive. Thus, to genetically define the landscape of regions critical for prion conversion, we tested the effect of short deletions. We found that, surprisingly, removal of a portion of PrP, the C terminus of alpha-helix H2, did not hamper prion formation but generated infectious agents with an internal deletion that showed characteristics essentially similar to those of original infecting strains. Thus, we demonstrate that completeness of the residues inside prions is not necessary for maintaining infectivity and the main strain-specific information, while reporting one of the few if not the only bona fide prions with an internal deletion.
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27
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Analysis of Conformational Stability of Abnormal Prion Protein Aggregates across the Spectrum of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Prions. J Virol 2016; 90:6244-6254. [PMID: 27122583 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00144-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED The wide phenotypic variability of prion diseases is thought to depend on the interaction of a host genotype with prion strains that have self-perpetuating biological properties enciphered in distinct conformations of the misfolded prion protein PrP(Sc) This concept is largely based on indirect approaches studying the effect of proteases or denaturing agents on the physicochemical properties of PrP(Sc) aggregates. Furthermore, most data come from studies on rodent-adapted prion strains, making current understanding of the molecular basis of strains and phenotypic variability in naturally occurring diseases, especially in humans, more limited. To fill this gap, we studied the effects of guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) and heating on PrP(Sc) aggregates extracted from 60 sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and 6 variant CJD brains. While denaturation curves obtained after exposure of PrP(Sc) to increasing GdnHCl concentrations showed similar profiles among the 7 CJD types analyzed, PrP(Sc) exposure to increasing temperature revealed significantly different and type-specific responses. In particular, MM1 and VV2, the most prevalent and fast-replicating CJD types, showed stable and highly resistant PrP(Sc) aggregates, whereas VV1, a rare and slowly propagating type, revealed unstable aggregates that easily dissolved at low temperature. Taken together, our results indicate that the molecular interactions mediating the aggregation state of PrP(Sc), possibly enciphering strain diversity, are differently targeted by GdnHCl, temperature, and proteases. Furthermore, the detected positive correlation between the thermostability of PrP(Sc) aggregates and disease transmission efficiency makes inconsistent the proposed hypothesis that a decrease in conformational stability of prions results in an increase in their replication efficiency. IMPORTANCE Prion strains are defined as infectious isolates propagating distinctive phenotypic traits after transmission to syngeneic hosts. Although the molecular basis of prion strains is not fully understood, it is largely accepted that variations in prion protein conformation drive the molecular changes leading to the different phenotypes. In this study, we exposed abnormal prion protein aggregates encompassing the spectrum of human prion strains to both guanidine hydrochloride and thermal unfolding. Remarkably, while exposure to increasing temperature revealed significant strain-specific differences in the denaturation profile of the protein, treatment with guanidine hydrochloride did not. The findings suggest that thermal and chemical denaturation perturb the structure of prion protein aggregates differently. Moreover, since the most thermostable prion protein types were those associated with the most prevalent phenotypes and most rapidly and efficiently transmitting strains, the results suggest a direct correlation between strain replication efficiency and the thermostability of prion protein aggregates.
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Abstract
Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal protein-misfolding neurodegenerative diseases. TSEs have been described in several species, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) in mink, and Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. These diseases are associated with the accumulation of a protease-resistant, disease-associated isoform of the prion protein (called PrP(Sc)) in the central nervous system and other tissues, depending on the host species. Typically, TSEs are acquired through exposure to infectious material, but inherited and spontaneous TSEs also occur. All TSEs share pathologic features and infectious mechanisms but have distinct differences in transmission and epidemiology due to host factors and strain differences encoded within the structure of the misfolded prion protein. The possibility that BSE can be transmitted to humans as the cause of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has brought attention to this family of diseases. This review is focused on the TSEs of livestock: bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin J Greenlee
- Justin J. Greenlee, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVP, is a research veterinary medical officer in the Virus and Prion Research Unit of the National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service in Ames, Iowa. M. Heather West Greenlee, PhD, is an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine
| | - M Heather West Greenlee
- Justin J. Greenlee, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVP, is a research veterinary medical officer in the Virus and Prion Research Unit of the National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service in Ames, Iowa. M. Heather West Greenlee, PhD, is an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine
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Chapuis J, Moudjou M, Reine F, Herzog L, Jaumain E, Chapuis C, Quadrio I, Boulliat J, Perret-Liaudet A, Dron M, Laude H, Rezaei H, Béringue V. Emergence of two prion subtypes in ovine PrP transgenic mice infected with human MM2-cortical Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2016; 4:10. [PMID: 26847207 PMCID: PMC4743415 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-016-0284-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Mammalian prions are proteinaceous pathogens responsible for a broad range of fatal neurodegenerative diseases in humans and animals. These diseases can occur spontaneously, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, or be acquired or inherited. Prions are primarily formed of macromolecular assemblies of the disease-associated prion protein PrPSc, a misfolded isoform of the host-encoded prion protein PrPC. Within defined host-species, prions can exist as conformational variants or strains. Based on both the M/V polymorphism at codon 129 of PrP and the electrophoretic signature of PrPSc in the brain, sporadic CJD is classified in different subtypes, which may encode different strains. A transmission barrier, the mechanism of which remains unknown, limits prion cross-species propagation. To adapt to the new host, prions have the capacity to ‘mutate’ conformationally, leading to the emergence of a variant with new biological properties. Here, we transmitted experimentally one rare subtype of human CJD, designated cortical MM2 (129 MM with type 2 PrPSc), to transgenic mice overexpressing either human or the VRQ allele of ovine PrPC. Results In marked contrast with the reported absence of transmission to knock-in mice expressing physiological levels of human PrP, this subtype transmitted faithfully to mice overexpressing human PrP, and exhibited unique strain features. Onto the ovine PrP sequence, the cortical MM2 subtype abruptly evolved on second passage, thereby allowing emergence of a pair of strain variants with distinct PrPSc biochemical characteristics and differing tropism for the central and lymphoid tissues. These two strain components exhibited remarkably distinct replicative properties in cell-free amplification assay, allowing the ‘physical’ cloning of the minor, lymphotropic component, and subsequent isolation in ovine PrP mice and RK13 cells. Conclusions Here, we provide in-depth assessment of the transmissibility and evolution of one rare subtype of sporadic CJD upon homologous and heterologous transmission. The notion that the environment or matrix where replication is occurring is key to the selection and preferential amplification of prion substrain components raises new questions on the determinants of prion replication within and between species. These data also further interrogate on the interplay between animal and human prions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40478-016-0284-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Madsen-Bouterse SA, Schneider DA, Dassanayake RP, Truscott TC, Zhuang D, Kumpula-McWhirter N, O'Rourke KI. PRNP variants in goats reduce sensitivity of detection of PrP(Sc) by immunoassay. J Vet Diagn Invest 2016; 27:332-43. [PMID: 26038481 DOI: 10.1177/1040638715585865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Diagnostic analyses often employ single antibody systems but are potentially limited by epitope sequence variation. United States regulatory testing for scrapie primarily uses antibody F99/97.6.1 for immunohistochemistry (IHC) of the prion protein associated with scrapie (PrP(Sc)). Whereas the epitope bound by F99/97.6.1 is highly conserved in sheep, a polymorphism in caprine PRNP results in a glutamine to lysine change at codon 222 and affects PrP detection. This study evaluated the performance of immunoassays (Western blot and IHC) in the presence of PRNP polymorphisms observed in U.S. goat populations. Effects of naturally occurring caprine prion protein alterations at codons 142, 143, 146, 154, or 222 were first evaluated using bacterially expressed recombinant normal cellular prion protein (rec-PrP(C)) and commercially available antibodies (F99/97.6.1, F89/160.1.5, L42, and SAF84). Detection of rec-PrP(C) using F89/160.1.5 was reduced by alterations at 142 and 143; this was also observed in brain PrP(C) from goats expressing these PRNP variants. Effect of allelic variation at 222 was confirmed by Western blot with F99/97.6.1. No differences were observed with L42 or SAF84. IHC of brain demonstrated reduced signal with F89/160.1.5 in animals heterozygous at 143. Decreasing F89/160.1.5 titers were used to demonstrate the impact of PrP(Sc) immunolabeling in preclinical goats and as a surrogate for F99/97.6.1 detection in 222 variants. In the absence of epitope-relevant knowledge of individual goat PRNP, a multi-antibody approach or an antibody that binds an invariant site may provide a more robust immunoassay of PrP(Sc) in classical scrapie, thus reducing the likelihood of false-negative results due to allelic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sally A Madsen-Bouterse
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
| | - David A Schneider
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
| | - Rohana P Dassanayake
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
| | - Thomas C Truscott
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
| | - Dongyue Zhuang
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
| | - Nancy Kumpula-McWhirter
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
| | - Katherine I O'Rourke
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Madsen-Bouterse, Schneider, Dassanayake, Kumpula-McWhirter, O'Rourke)Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA (Schneider, Truscott, Zhuang)
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Prion Type-Dependent Deposition of PRNP Allelic Products in Heterozygous Sheep. J Virol 2015; 90:805-12. [PMID: 26512080 PMCID: PMC4702698 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02316-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Susceptibility or resistance to prion infection in humans and animals depends on single prion protein (PrP) amino acid substitutions in the host, but the agent's modulating role has not been well investigated. Compared to disease incubation times in wild-type homozygous ARQ/ARQ (where each triplet represents the amino acids at codons 136, 154, and 171, respectively) sheep, scrapie susceptibility is reduced to near resistance in ARR/ARR animals while it is strongly enhanced in VRQ/VRQ carriers. Heterozygous ARR/VRQ animals exhibit delayed incubation periods. In bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infection, the polymorphism effect is quite different although the ARR allotype remains the least susceptible. In this study, PrP allotype composition in protease-resistant prion protein (PrP(res)) from brain of heterozygous ARR/VRQ scrapie-infected sheep was compared with that of BSE-infected sheep with a similar genotype. A triplex Western blotting technique was used to estimate the two allotype PrP fractions in PrP(res) material from BSE-infected ARR/VRQ sheep. PrP(res) in BSE contained equimolar amounts of VRQ- and ARR-PrP, which contrasts with the excess (>95%) VRQ-PrP fraction found in PrP in scrapie. This is evidence that transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agent properties alone, perhaps structural aspects of prions (such as PrP amino acid sequence variants and PrP conformational state), determine the polymorphic dependence of the PrP(res) accumulation process in prion formation as well as the disease-associated phenotypic expressions in the host. IMPORTANCE Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurodegenerative and transmissible diseases caused by prions. Amino acid sequence variants of the prion protein (PrP) determine transmissibility in the hosts, as has been shown for classical scrapie in sheep. Each individual produces a separate PrP molecule from its two PrP gene copies. Heterozygous scrapie-infected sheep that produce two PrP variants associated with opposite scrapie susceptibilities (136V-PrP variant, high; 171R-PrP variant, very low) contain in their prion material over 95% of the 136V PrP variant. However, when these sheep are infected with prions from cattle (bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE]), both PrP variants occur in equal ratios. This shows that the infecting prion type determines the accumulating PrP variant ratio in the heterozygous host. While the host's PrP is considered a determining factor, these results emphasize that prion structure plays a role during host infection and that PrP variant involvement in prions of heterozygous carriers is a critical field for understanding prion formation.
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Langeveld JPM, Jacobs JG, Erkens JHF, Baron T, Andréoletti O, Yokoyama T, van Keulen LJM, van Zijderveld FG, Davidse A, Hope J, Tang Y, Bossers A. Sheep prions with molecular properties intermediate between classical scrapie, BSE and CH1641-scrapie. Prion 2015; 8:296-305. [PMID: 25522672 PMCID: PMC4601226 DOI: 10.4161/19336896.2014.983396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Efforts to differentiate bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from scrapie in prion infected sheep have resulted in effective methods to decide about the absence of BSE. In rare instances uncertainties remain due to assumptions that BSE, classical scrapie and CH1641–a rare scrapie variant–could occur as mixtures. In field samples including those from fallen stock, triplex Western blotting analyses of variations in the molecular properties of the proteinase K resistant part of the disease‑associated form of prion protein (PrPres) represents a powerful tool for quick discrimination purposes. In this study we examined 7 deviant ovine field cases of scrapie for some typical molecular aspects of PrPres found in CH1641‑scrapie, classical scrapie and BSE. One case was most close to scrapie with respect to molecular mass of its non-glycosylated fraction and N-terminally located 12B2‑epitope content. Two cases were unlike classical scrapie but too weak to differentiate between BSE or CH1641. The other 4 cases appeared intermediate between scrapie and CH1641 with a reduced molecular mass and 12B2‑epitope content, together with the characteristic presence of a second PrPres population. The existence of these 2 PrPres populations was further confirmed through deglycosylation by PNGaseF. The findings indicate that discriminatory diagnosis between classical scrapie, CH1641 and BSE can remain inconclusive with current biochemical methods. Whether such intermediate cases represent mixtures of TSE strains should be further investigated e.g. in bioassays with rodent lines that are varying in their susceptibility or other techniques suitable for strain typing.
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Key Words
- AVG, average
- BSE, bovine spongiform encephalopathy
- CH1641
- IHC, immunohistochemistry
- PK, proteinase K
- PrPC ,prion protein in cellular form
- PrPSc, prion protein in TSE associated form
- PrPres, proteinase K resistant fragment of PrPSc
- SD, standard deviation
- SDS-PAGE, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
- TE, tissue equivalents
- TSE, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy
- VC, variation coefficient.
- Western blot
- ic., intracerebrally
- ip., intraperitoneally
- prion
- sheep
- triplex-WB, triplex Western blotting method
- typing
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan P M Langeveld
- a Department of Infection Biology ; Central Veterinary Institute part of Wageningen UR ; Lelystad , The Netherlands
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Prion Infectivity Plateaus and Conversion to Symptomatic Disease Originate from Falling Precursor Levels and Increased Levels of Oligomeric PrPSc Species. J Virol 2015; 89:12418-26. [PMID: 26423957 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02142-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2015] [Accepted: 09/25/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED In lethal prion neurodegenerative diseases, misfolded prion proteins (PrP(Sc)) replicate by redirecting the folding of the cellular prion glycoprotein (PrP(C)). Infections of different durations can have a subclinical phase with constant levels of infectious particles, but the mechanisms underlying this plateau and a subsequent exit to overt clinical disease are unknown. Using tandem biophysical techniques, we show that attenuated accumulation of infectious particles in presymptomatic disease is preceded by a progressive fall in PrP(C) level, which constricts replication rate and thereby causes the plateau effect. Furthermore, disease symptoms occurred at the threshold associated with increasing levels of small, relatively less protease-resistant oligomeric prion particles (oPrP(Sc)). Although a hypothetical lethal isoform of PrP cannot be excluded, our data argue that diminishing residual PrP(C) levels and continuously increasing levels of oPrP(Sc) are crucial determinants in the transition from presymptomatic to symptomatic prion disease. IMPORTANCE Prions are infectious agents that cause lethal brain diseases; they arise from misfolding of a cell surface protein, PrP(C) to a form called PrP(Sc). Prion infections can have long latencies even though there is no protective immune response. Accumulation of infectious prion particles has been suggested to always reach the same plateau in the brain during latent periods, with clinical disease only occurring when hypothetical toxic forms (called PrP(L) or TPrP) begin to accumulate. We show here that infectivity plateaus arise because PrP(C) precursor levels become downregulated and that the duration of latent periods can be accounted for by the level of residual PrP(C), which transduces a toxic effect, along with the amount of oligomeric forms of PrP(Sc).
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Host Determinants of Prion Strain Diversity Independent of Prion Protein Genotype. J Virol 2015; 89:10427-41. [PMID: 26246570 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01586-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Phenotypic diversity in prion diseases can be specified by prion strains in which biological traits are propagated through an epigenetic mechanism mediated by distinct PrP(Sc) conformations. We investigated the role of host-dependent factors on phenotypic diversity of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in different host species that express the same prion protein gene (Prnp). Two CWD strains that have distinct biological, biochemical, and pathological features were identified in transgenic mice that express the Syrian golden hamster (SGH) Prnp. The CKY strain of CWD had a shorter incubation period than the WST strain of CWD, but after transmission to SGH, the incubation period of CKY CWD was ∼150 days longer than WST CWD. Limited proteinase K digestion revealed strain-specific PrP(Sc) polypeptide patterns that were maintained in both hosts, but the solubility and conformational stability of PrP(Sc) differed for the CWD strains in a host-dependent manner. WST CWD produced PrP(Sc) amyloid plaques in the brain of the SGH that were partially insoluble and stable at a high concentration of protein denaturant. However, in transgenic mice, PrP(Sc) from WST CWD did not assemble into plaques, was highly soluble, and had low conformational stability. Similar studies using the HY and DY strains of transmissible mink encephalopathy resulted in minor differences in prion biological and PrP(Sc) properties between transgenic mice and SGH. These findings indicate that host-specific pathways that are independent of Prnp can alter the PrP(Sc) conformation of certain prion strains, leading to changes in the biophysical properties of PrP(Sc), neuropathology, and clinical prion disease. IMPORTANCE Prions are misfolded pathogenic proteins that cause neurodegeneration in humans and animals. Transmissible prion diseases exhibit a spectrum of disease phenotypes and the basis of this diversity is encoded in the structure of the pathogenic prion protein and propagated by an epigenetic mechanism. In the present study, we investigated prion diversity in two hosts species that express the same prion protein gene. While prior reports have demonstrated that prion strain properties are stable upon infection of the same host species and prion protein genotype, our findings indicate that certain prion strains can undergo dramatic changes in biological properties that are not dependent on the prion protein. Therefore, host factors independent of the prion protein can affect prion diversity. Understanding how host pathways can modify prion disease phenotypes may provide clues on how to alter prion formation and lead to treatments for prion, and other, human neurodegenerative diseases of protein misfolding.
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Cali I, Miller CJ, Parisi JE, Geschwind MD, Gambetti P, Schonberger LB. Distinct pathological phenotypes of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in recipients of prion-contaminated growth hormone. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2015; 3:37. [PMID: 26108478 PMCID: PMC4479081 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-015-0214-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2015] [Accepted: 05/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction The present study compares the clinical, pathological and molecular features of a United States (US) case of growth hormone (GH)-associated Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (GH-CJD) (index case) to those of two earlier referred US cases of GH-CJD and one case of dura mater (d)-associated CJD (dCJD). All iatrogenic CJD (iCJD) subjects were methionine (M) homozygous at codon 129 (129MM) of the prion protein (PrP) gene and had scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) type 1 (iCJDMM1). Results The index subject presented with ataxia, weight loss and changes in the sleep pattern about 38 years after the midpoint of GH treatment. Autopsy examination revealed a neuropathological phenotype reminiscent of both sCJDMV2-K (a sporadic CJD subtype in subjects methionine/valine heterozygous at codon 129 with PrPSc type 2 and the presence of kuru plaques) and variant CJD (vCJD). The two earlier cases of GH-CJDMM1 and the one of dCJDMM1 were associated with neuropathological phenotypes that differed from that of the index case mainly because they lacked PrP plaques. The phenotype of the earlier GH-CJDMM1 cases shared several, but not all, characteristics with sCJDMM1, whereas dCJDMM1 was phenotypically indistinguishable from sCJDMM1. Two distinct groups of dCJDMM1 have also been described in Japan based on clinical features, the presence or absence of PrP plaques and distinct PK-resistant PrPSc (resPrPSc) electrophoretic mobilities. The resPrPSc electrophoretic mobility was, however, identical in our GH-CJDMM1 and dCJDMM1 cases, and matched that of sCJDMM1. Conclusions Our study shows that receipt of prion-contaminated GH can lead to a prion disease with molecular features (129MM and PrPSc type 2) and phenotypic characteristics that differ from those of sporadic prion disease (sCJDMM1), a difference that may reflect adaptation of “heterologous” prion strains to the 129MM background.
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van Keulen LJM, Langeveld JPM, Dolstra CH, Jacobs J, Bossers A, van Zijderveld FG. TSE strain differentiation in mice by immunohistochemical PrP(Sc) profiles and triplex Western blot. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2015; 41:756-79. [PMID: 25201447 DOI: 10.1111/nan.12181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2014] [Accepted: 08/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED TSE strains are routinely identified by their incubation period and vacuolation profile in the brain after intracerebral inoculation and serial passaging in inbred mouse lines. There are some major drawbacks to this method that are related to the variation in vacuolation that exists in the brains of mice infected with the same TSE strain and to variation between observers and laboratories in scoring vacuolation and determining the final incubation period. AIM We investigated the potential of PrP(Sc) immunohistochemistry and triplex Western blotting as possible alternative methods to differentiate between TSE strains. METHODS TSE reference strains ME7, 87A/87V, 22A/22C, 79A/79V and 301C/301V were intracerebrally inoculated in RIII or VM inbred mice that differ in their PrP genotype. Immunohistochemical PrP(Sc) profiles were drawn up by scanning light microscopy both on coronal and sagittal sections. RESULTS On the basis of the localization of PrP(Sc) in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellar cortex and the overall type of PrP(Sc) staining, all TSE strains could be well differentiated from each other through their typical strain dependent characteristics. In addition, Western blot showed that the combination of glycosylation profile and 12B2 epitope content of PrP(Sc) allowed to distinguish between all reference strains except for ME7 and 22A in VM mice. CONCLUSION TSE strains in mice can be identified on the basis of their PrP(Sc) profile alone. The potential to identify TSE strains in ruminants with these PrP(Sc) profiles after a single primary passage in mice will be the topic of future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucien J M van Keulen
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Jan P M Langeveld
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Corry H Dolstra
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Jorg Jacobs
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Alex Bossers
- Department of Infection Biology, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Fred G van Zijderveld
- Department of Bacteriology and TSEs, Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands
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Structural determinants of phenotypic diversity and replication rate of human prions. PLoS Pathog 2015; 11:e1004832. [PMID: 25875953 PMCID: PMC4397081 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The infectious pathogen responsible for prion diseases is the misfolded, aggregated form of the prion protein, PrPSc. In contrast to recent progress in studies of laboratory rodent-adapted prions, current understanding of the molecular basis of human prion diseases and, especially, their vast phenotypic diversity is very limited. Here, we have purified proteinase resistant PrPSc aggregates from two major phenotypes of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), determined their conformational stability and replication tempo in vitro, as well as characterized structural organization using recently emerged approaches based on hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange coupled with mass spectrometry. Our data clearly demonstrate that these phenotypically distant prions differ in a major way with regard to their structural organization, both at the level of the polypeptide backbone (as indicated by backbone amide H/D exchange data) as well as the quaternary packing arrangements (as indicated by H/D exchange kinetics for histidine side chains). Furthermore, these data indicate that, in contrast to previous observations on yeast and some murine prion strains, the replication rate of sCJD prions is primarily determined not by conformational stability but by specific structural features that control the growth rate of prion protein aggregates. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) represents ~90% of all human prion diseases worldwide. This neurodegenerative disease, which is transmissible and invariably fatal, is characterized by variable progression rates and remarkable diversity of clinical and pathological traits. The infectious sCJD prions propagating the pathology mainly in the brain are assemblies of abnormally folded isoform (PrPSc) of a host-encoded prion protein (PrPC). The structure and replication mechanisms of human prions are unknown, and whether the PrPSc subtypes identified by proteolytic fragmentation represent distinct strains of sCJD prions has been debated. Here, we isolated sCJD prions from patients with two very distant phenotypes of the disease, compared their structural organization using recently developed biophysical techniques, and investigated their replication in vitro. Our data indicate that these sCJD prions are characterized by different secondary structure organization and quaternary packing arrangements, and that these structural differences are responsible for distinct prion replication rates and unique phenotypic characteristics of the disease. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that, contrary to previous observations for yeast prions, the replication tempo of sCJD prions is determined not so much by their conformational stability but by specific structural features that control the growth speed of prion particles.
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West Greenlee MH, Smith JD, Platt EM, Juarez JR, Timms LL, Greenlee JJ. Changes in retinal function and morphology are early clinical signs of disease in cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0119431. [PMID: 25756286 PMCID: PMC4355414 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) belongs to a group of fatal, transmissible protein misfolding diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). All TSEs are caused by accumulation of misfolded prion protein (PrPSc) throughout the central nervous system (CNS), which results in neuronal loss and ultimately death. Like other protein misfolding diseases including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, TSEs are generally not diagnosed until the onset of disease after the appearance of unequivocal clinical signs. As such, identification of the earliest clinical signs of disease may facilitate diagnosis. The retina is the most accessible part of the central nervous system, and retinal pathology in TSE affected animals has been previously reported. Here we describe antemortem changes in retinal function and morphology that are detectable in BSE inoculated animals several months (up to 11 months) prior to the appearance of any other signs of clinical disease. We also demonstrate that differences in the severity of these clinical signs reflect the amount of PrPSc accumulation in the retina and the resulting inflammatory response of the tissue. These results are the earliest reported clinical signs associated with TSE infection and provide a basis for understanding the pathology and evaluating therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Heather West Greenlee
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Interdepartmental Toxicology Program, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Jodi D. Smith
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, IA 50010, United States of America
| | - Ekundayo M. Platt
- Department of Genetics and Cell Biology and Interdepartmental Toxicology Program, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, United States of America
| | - Jessica R. Juarez
- Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, United States of America
| | - Leo L. Timms
- Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, United States of America
| | - Justin J. Greenlee
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, IA 50010, United States of America
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Lau A, McDonald A, Daude N, Mays CE, Walter ED, Aglietti R, Mercer RCC, Wohlgemuth S, van der Merwe J, Yang J, Gapeshina H, Kim C, Grams J, Shi B, Wille H, Balachandran A, Schmitt-Ulms G, Safar JG, Millhauser GL, Westaway D. Octarepeat region flexibility impacts prion function, endoproteolysis and disease manifestation. EMBO Mol Med 2015; 7:339-56. [PMID: 25661904 PMCID: PMC4364950 DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201404588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Revised: 12/31/2014] [Accepted: 01/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) comprises a natively unstructured N-terminal domain, including a metal-binding octarepeat region (OR) and a linker, followed by a C-terminal domain that misfolds to form PrP(S) (c) in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. PrP(C) β-endoproteolysis to the C2 fragment allows PrP(S) (c) formation, while α-endoproteolysis blocks production. To examine the OR, we used structure-directed design to make novel alleles, 'S1' and 'S3', locking this region in extended or compact conformations, respectively. S1 and S3 PrP resembled WT PrP in supporting peripheral nerve myelination. Prion-infected S1 and S3 transgenic mice both accumulated similar low levels of PrP(S) (c) and infectious prion particles, but differed in their clinical presentation. Unexpectedly, S3 PrP overproduced C2 fragment in the brain by a mechanism distinct from metal-catalysed hydrolysis reported previously. OR flexibility is concluded to impact diverse biological endpoints; it is a salient variable in infectious disease paradigms and modulates how the levels of PrP(S) (c) and infectivity can either uncouple or engage to drive the onset of clinical disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnes Lau
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Alex McDonald
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Nathalie Daude
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Charles E Mays
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Eric D Walter
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Robin Aglietti
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Robert C C Mercer
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Serene Wohlgemuth
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Jacques van der Merwe
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Jing Yang
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Hristina Gapeshina
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Chae Kim
- National Prion Disease Surveillance Center, Departments of Pathology and Neurology, School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Jennifer Grams
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Beipei Shi
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Holger Wille
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | | | - Gerold Schmitt-Ulms
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jiri G Safar
- National Prion Disease Surveillance Center, Departments of Pathology and Neurology, School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Glenn L Millhauser
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - David Westaway
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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Kittelberger R, McIntyre L, Watts J, MacDiarmid S, Hannah MJ, Jenner J, Bueno R, Swainsbury R, Langeveld JPM, van Keulen LJM, van Zijderveld FG, Wemheuer WM, Richt JA, Sorensen SJ, Pigott CJ, O'Keefe JS. Evaluation of two commercial, rapid, ELISA kits testing for scrapie in retro-pharyngeal lymph nodes in sheep. N Z Vet J 2014; 62:343-50. [PMID: 24961961 DOI: 10.1080/00480169.2014.933729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To estimate the number of cases of scrapie that would occur in sheep of different prion protein (PrP) genotypes if scrapie was to become established in New Zealand, and to compare the performance of two commercially available, rapid ELISA kits using ovine retro-pharyngeal lymph nodes (RLN) from non-infected and infected sheep of different PrP genotypes. METHODS Using published data on the distribution of PrP genotypes within the New Zealand sheep flock and the prevalence of cases of scrapie in these genotypes in the United Kingdom, the annual expected number of cases of scrapie per genotype was estimated, should scrapie become established in New Zealand, assuming a total population of 28 million sheep. A non-infected panel of RLN was collected from 737 sheep from New Zealand that had been culled, found in extremis or died. Brain stem samples were also collected from 131 of these sheep. A second panel of infected samples comprised 218 and 117 RLN from confirmed scrapie cases that had originated in Europe and the United States of America, respectively. All samples were screened using two commercial, rapid, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy ELISA kits: Bio-Rad TeSeE ELISA (ELISA-BR), and IDEXX HerdChek BSE-Scrapie AG Test (ELISA-ID). RESULTS If scrapie became established in New Zealand, an estimated 596 cases would occur per year; of these 234 (39%) and 271 (46%) would be in sheep carrying ARQ/ARQ and ARQ/VRQ PrP genotypes, respectively. For the non-infected samples from New Zealand the diagnostic specificity of both ELISA kits was 100%. When considering all infected samples, the diagnostic sensitivity was 70.4 (95% CI=65.3-75.3)% for ELISA-BR and 91.6 (95% CI=88.2-94.4)% for ELISA-ID. For the ARQ/ARQ genotype (n=195), sensitivity was 66.2% for ELISA-BR and 90.8% for ELISA-ID, and for the ARQ/VRQ genotype (n=107), sensitivity was 81.3% for ELISA-BR and 98.1% for ELISA-ID. CONCLUSIONS In this study, the ELISA-ID kit demonstrated a higher diagnostic sensitivity for detecting scrapie in samples of RLN from sheep carrying scrapie-susceptible PrP genotypes than the ELISA-BR kit at comparable diagnostic specificity. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The diagnostic performance of the ELISA-ID kit using ovine RLN merits the consideration of including this assay in the national scrapie surveillance programme in New Zealand.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Kittelberger
- a Investigation and Diagnostic Centres and Response , Ministry for Primary Industries , Wellington , New Zealand
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Krejciova Z, Barria MA, Jones M, Ironside JW, Jeffrey M, González L, Head MW. Genotype-dependent molecular evolution of sheep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions in vitro affects their zoonotic potential. J Biol Chem 2014; 289:26075-26088. [PMID: 25100723 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m114.582965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are rare fatal neurological conditions of humans and animals, one of which (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) is known to be a zoonotic form of the cattle disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). What makes one animal prion disease zoonotic and others not is poorly understood, but it appears to involve compatibility between the prion strain and the host prion protein sequence. Concerns have been raised that the United Kingdom sheep flock may have been exposed to BSE early in the cattle BSE epidemic and that serial BSE transmission in sheep might have resulted in adaptation of the agent, which may have come to phenotypically resemble scrapie while maintaining its pathogenicity for humans. We have modeled this scenario in vitro. Extrapolation from our results suggests that if BSE were to infect sheep in the field it may, with time and in some sheep genotypes, become scrapie-like at the molecular level. However, the results also suggest that if BSE in sheep were to come to resemble scrapie it would lose its ability to affect humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzana Krejciova
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
| | - Marcelo A Barria
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Jones
- Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Edinburgh EH17 7QT, United Kingdom, and
| | - James W Ironside
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Jeffrey
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Lasswade, Edinburgh EH26 0PZ, United Kingdom
| | - Lorenzo González
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Lasswade, Edinburgh EH26 0PZ, United Kingdom
| | - Mark W Head
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom,.
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McCutcheon S, Langeveld JPM, Tan BC, Gill AC, de Wolf C, Martin S, Gonzalez L, Alibhai J, Blanco ARA, Campbell L, Hunter N, Houston EF. Prion protein-specific antibodies that detect multiple TSE agents with high sensitivity. PLoS One 2014; 9:e91143. [PMID: 24608105 PMCID: PMC3946747 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2013] [Accepted: 02/07/2014] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper describes the generation, characterisation and potential applications of a panel of novel anti-prion protein monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The mAbs were generated by immunising PRNP null mice, using a variety of regimes, with a truncated form of recombinant ovine prion protein spanning residues 94-233. Epitopes of specific antibodies were mapped using solid-phase Pepscan analysis and clustered to four distinct regions within the PrP molecule. We have demonstrated the utility of these antibodies by use of Western blotting and immunohistochemistry in tissues from a range of different species affected by transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). In comparative tests against extensively-used and widely-published, commercially available antibodies, similar or improved results can be obtained using these new mAbs, specifically in terms of sensitivity of detection. Since many of these antibodies recognise native PrPC, they could also be applied to a broad range of immunoassays such as flow cytometry, DELFIA analysis or immunoprecipitation. We are using these reagents to increase our understanding of TSE pathogenesis and for use in potential diagnostic screening assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra McCutcheon
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Boon Chin Tan
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew C. Gill
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher de Wolf
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Stuart Martin
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Lasswade Laboratory, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Lorenzo Gonzalez
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Lasswade Laboratory, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - James Alibhai
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - A. Richard Alejo Blanco
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Lauren Campbell
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Nora Hunter
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - E. Fiona Houston
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Mays CE, Kim C, Haldiman T, van der Merwe J, Lau A, Yang J, Grams J, Di Bari MA, Nonno R, Telling GC, Kong Q, Langeveld J, McKenzie D, Westaway D, Safar JG. Prion disease tempo determined by host-dependent substrate reduction. J Clin Invest 2014; 124:847-58. [PMID: 24430187 DOI: 10.1172/jci72241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2013] [Accepted: 11/07/2013] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The symptoms of prion infection can take years or decades to manifest following the initial exposure. Molecular markers of prion disease include accumulation of the misfolded prion protein (PrPSc), which is derived from its cellular precursor (PrPC), as well as downregulation of the PrP-like Shadoo (Sho) glycoprotein. Given the overlapping cellular environments for PrPC and Sho, we inferred that PrPC levels might also be altered as part of a host response during prion infection. Using rodent models, we found that, in addition to changes in PrPC glycosylation and proteolytic processing, net reductions in PrPC occur in a wide range of prion diseases, including sheep scrapie, human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and cervid chronic wasting disease. The reduction in PrPC results in decreased prion replication, as measured by the protein misfolding cyclic amplification technique for generating PrPSc in vitro. While PrPC downregulation is not discernible in animals with unusually short incubation periods and high PrPC expression, slowly evolving prion infections exhibit downregulation of the PrPC substrate required for new PrPSc synthesis and as a receptor for pathogenic signaling. Our data reveal PrPC downregulation as a previously unappreciated element of disease pathogenesis that defines the extensive, presymptomatic period for many prion strains.
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Enhanced virulence of sheep-passaged bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent is revealed by decreased polymorphism barriers in prion protein conversion studies. J Virol 2013; 88:2903-12. [PMID: 24371051 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02446-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be efficiently transmitted to small ruminants (sheep and goats) with certain prion protein (PrP) genotypes. Polymorphisms in PrP of both the host and donor influence the transmission efficiency of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in general. These polymorphisms in PrP also modulate the PrP conversion underlying TSE agent replication. Here we demonstrate that single-round protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) can be used to assess species and polymorphism barriers at the molecular level. We assessed those within and between the ovine and bovine species in vitro using a variety of natural scrapie and experimentally generated cross-species BSE agents. These BSE agents include ovBSE-ARQ isolates (BSE derived from sheep having the ARQ/ARQ PrP genotype), and two unique BSE-derived variants: BSE passaged in VRQ/VRQ sheep and a cow BSE agent isolate generated by back-transmission of ovBSE-ARQ into its original host. PMCA allowed us to quantitatively determine PrP conversion profiles that correlated with known in vivo transmissibility and susceptibility in the two ruminant species in which strain-specific molecular signatures, like its molecular weight after protease digestion, were maintained. Furthermore, both BSE agent isolates from ARQ and VRQ sheep demonstrated a surprising transmission profile in which efficient transmissions to both sheep and bovine variants was combined. Finally, all data support the notion that ARQ-derived sheep BSE points to a significant increase in virulence compared to all other tested scrapie- and BSE-derived variants reflected by the increased conversion efficiencies of previously inefficient convertible PrP variants (including the so-called "resistant" sheep ARR variant). IMPORTANCE Prion diseases such as scrapie in sheep and goats, BSE in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans are fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions. BSE is known to be transmissible to a variety of hosts, including sheep and humans. Based on the typical BSE agent strain signatures and epidemiological data, the occurrence of a novel variant of CJD in humans was linked to BSE occurrence in the United Kingdom. Measures, including genetic selection of sheep toward less susceptible PrP genotypes, have been implemented to lower the risk of BSE transmission into sheep, since the disease could potentially spread into a natural reservoir. In this study, we demonstrated using molecular PrP conversion studies that when BSE is first transmitted through sheep, the host range is modified significantly and the PrP converting potency increased, allowing the ovine BSE to transmit more efficiently than cow BSE into supposedly less susceptible hosts.
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Abstract
UNLABELLED The prion protein-encoding gene (prnp) strongly influences the susceptibility of small ruminants to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Hence, selective breeding programs have been implemented to increase sheep resistance to scrapie. For goats, epidemiological and experimental studies have provided some association between certain polymorphisms of the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) and resistance to TSEs. Among them, the Q/K polymorphism at PrP(C) codon 222 (Q/K222) yielded the most promising results. In this work, we investigated the individual effects of the K222-PrP(C) variant on the resistance/susceptibility of goats to TSEs. For that purpose, we generated two transgenic mouse lines, expressing either the Q222 (wild type) or K222 variant of goat PrP(C). Both mouse lines were challenged intracerebrally with a panel of TSE isolates. Transgenic mice expressing the wild-type (Q222) allele were fully susceptible to infection with all tested isolates, whereas transgenic mice expressing similar levels of the K222 allele were resistant to all goat scrapie and cattle BSE isolates but not to goat BSE isolates. Finally, heterozygous K/Q222 mice displayed a reduced susceptibility to the tested panel of scrapie isolates. These results demonstrate a highly protective effect of the K222 variant against a broad panel of different prion isolates and further reinforce the argument supporting the use of this variant in breeding programs to control TSEs in goat herds. IMPORTANCE The objective of this study was to determine the role of the K222 variant of the prion protein (PrP) in the susceptibility/resistance of goats to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Results showed that transgenic mice expressing the goat K222-PrP polymorphic variant are resistant to scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agents. This protective effect was also observed in heterozygous Q/K222 animals. Therefore, the single amino acid exchange from Q to K at codon 222 of the cellular prion protein provides resistance against TSEs. All the results presented here support the view that the K222 polymorphic variant is a good candidate for selective breeding programs to control and eradicate scrapie in goat herds.
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Epitope scanning indicates structural differences in brain-derived monomeric and aggregated mutant prion proteins related to genetic prion diseases. Biochem J 2013; 454:417-25. [PMID: 23808898 DOI: 10.1042/bj20130563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome, fatal familial insomnia and prion protein cerebral amyloid angiopathy are clinically and neuropathologically distinct neurodegenerative diseases linked to mutations in the PRNP gene encoding the cellular prion protein (PrPC). How sequence variants of PRNP encode the information to specify these disease phenotypes is not known. It is suggested that each mutation produces a misfolded variant of PrPC with specific neurotoxic properties. However, structural studies of recombinant PrP did not detect major differences between wild-type and mutant molecules, pointing to the importance of investigating mutant PrPs from mammalian brains. We used surface plasmon resonance and a slot-blot immunoassay to analyse the antibody-binding profiles of soluble and insoluble PrP molecules extracted from the brains of transgenic mice modelling different prion diseases. By measuring the reactivity of monoclonal antibodies against different PrP epitopes, we obtained evidence of conformational differences between wild-type and mutant PrPs, and among different mutants. We detected structural heterogeneity in both monomeric and aggregated PrP, supporting the hypothesis that the phenotype of genetic prion diseases is encoded by mutant PrP conformation and assembly state.
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Haldiman T, Kim C, Cohen Y, Chen W, Blevins J, Qing L, Cohen ML, Langeveld J, Telling GC, Kong Q, Safar JG. Co-existence of distinct prion types enables conformational evolution of human PrPSc by competitive selection. J Biol Chem 2013; 288:29846-61. [PMID: 23974118 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m113.500108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The unique phenotypic characteristics of mammalian prions are thought to be encoded in the conformation of pathogenic prion proteins (PrP(Sc)). The molecular mechanism responsible for the adaptation, mutation, and evolution of prions observed in cloned cells and upon crossing the species barrier remains unsolved. Using biophysical techniques and conformation-dependent immunoassays in tandem, we isolated two distinct populations of PrP(Sc) particles with different conformational stabilities and aggregate sizes, which frequently co-exist in the most common human prion disease, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The protein misfolding cyclic amplification replicates each of the PrP(Sc) particle types independently and leads to the competitive selection of those with lower initial conformational stability. In serial propagation with a nonglycosylated mutant PrP(C) substrate, the dominant PrP(Sc) conformers are subject to further evolution by natural selection of the subpopulation with the highest replication rate due to its lowest stability. Cumulatively, the data show that sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease PrP(Sc) is not a single conformational entity but a dynamic collection of two distinct populations of particles. This implies the co-existence of different prions, whose adaptation and evolution are governed by the selection of progressively less stable, faster replicating PrP(Sc) conformers.
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Head MW, Yull HM, Ritchie DL, Langeveld JP, Fletcher NA, Knight RS, Ironside JW. Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy in the UK: a retrospective review 1991-2008. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 136:1102-15. [PMID: 23550113 DOI: 10.1093/brain/aws366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy is a newly described human prion disease of unknown aetiology lying out with the hitherto recognized phenotypic spectrum of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Two cases that conform to the variably protease-sensitive prionopathy phenotype have been identified prospectively in the U.K. since the first description of the condition in 2008 in the U.S.A. To determine the incidence and phenotype of variably protease-sensitive prionopathy within a single well-defined cohort, we have conducted a retrospective review of patients referred to the National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research & Surveillance Unit during the period 1991-2008. The approach taken was to screen frozen brain tissue by western blotting for the form of protease-resistant prion protein that characterizes variably protease-sensitive prionopathy, followed by neuropathological and clinical review of candidate cases. Cases diagnosed as sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with atypical neuropathology were also reviewed. Four hundred and sixty-five cases were screened biochemically, yielding four candidate cases of variably protease-sensitive prionopathy. One was discounted on pathological and clinical grounds, and one was a known case of variably protease-sensitive prionopathy previously reported, leaving two new cases, which were confirmed biochemically and neuropathologically as variably protease-sensitive prionopathy. A third new case that lacked frozen tissue was recognized retrospectively on neuropathological grounds alone. This means that five cases of variably protease-sensitive prionopathy have been identified (prospectively and retrospectively) during the surveillance period 1991-2011 in the U.K. Assuming ascertainment levels equivalent to that of other human prion diseases, these data indicate that variably protease-sensitive prionopathy is a rare phenotype within human prion diseases, which are themselves rare. Biochemical investigation indicates that the abnormal protease-resistant prion protein fragment that characterizes variably protease-sensitive prionopathy is detectable at low levels in some cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and conversely, that the form of abnormal prion protein that characterizes sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can be found in certain brain regions of cases of variably protease-sensitive prionopathy, indicating molecular overlaps between these two disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark W Head
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research & Surveillance Unit, Bryan Matthews Building, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
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49
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Wilson R, King D, Hunter N, Goldmann W, Barron RM. Characterization of an unusual transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in goat by transmission in knock-in transgenic mice. J Gen Virol 2013; 94:1922-1932. [PMID: 23720218 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.051706-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of cattle, and its transmission to humans through contaminated food is thought to be the cause of the variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. BSE is believed to have spread from the recycling in cattle of ruminant tissue in meat and bone meal (MBM). However, during this time, sheep and goats were also exposed to BSE-contaminated MBM. Both sheep and goats are experimentally susceptible to BSE, and while there have been no reported natural BSE cases in sheep, two goat BSE field cases have been documented. While cases of BSE are rare in small ruminants, the existence of scrapie in both sheep and goats is well established. In the UK, during 2006-2007, a serious outbreak of clinical scrapie was detected in a large dairy goat herd. Subsequently, 200 goats were selected for post-mortem examination, one of which showed biochemical and immunohistochemical features of the disease-associated prion protein (PrP(TSE)) which differed from all other infected goats. In the present study, we investigated this unusual case by performing transmission bioassays into a panel of mouse lines. Following characterization, we found that strain properties such as the ability to transmit to different mouse lines, lesion profile pattern, degree of PrP deposition in the brain and biochemical features of this unusual goat case were neither consistent with goat BSE nor with a goat scrapie herdmate control. However, our results suggest that this unusual case has BSE-like properties and highlights the need for continued surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rona Wilson
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
| | - Declan King
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
| | - Nora Hunter
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
| | - Wilfred Goldmann
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
| | - Rona M Barron
- Neurobiology Division, The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
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Komolka K, Ponsuksili S, Schwerin M. Healthy sheep that differ in scrapie associated PRNP genotypes exhibit significant differences of expression pattern associated with immune response and cell-to-cell signalling in retropharyngeal lymph nodes. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 2013; 152:370-80. [PMID: 23428361 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2013.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2012] [Revised: 01/14/2013] [Accepted: 01/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis whether prion protein gene (PRNP) associated scrapie susceptibility is connected with physiological changes in tissue involved in pathogen uptake, migration and propagation. Jejunum, ileal Peyer's patches, retropharyngeal lymph nodes, brain stem and liver of healthy and non scrapie-infected sheep with PRNP genotypes representing the scrapie risk class R1 (scrapie-resistant) and R5 (scrapie-susceptible), respectively, were comparatively analysed by microarray technology and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT qPCR). Significantly higher expression levels of genes involved in immune response and cell communication pathways in retropharyngeal lymph nodes of R1 sheep in comparison with R5 animals strongly suggest PRNP associated physiological processes with impact as an early barrier in pathogen defence. Equal expression patterns in brain stem suggest no physiological differences in brain of healthy R1 and R5 animals. In addition, similar expression pattern in liver indicates that there are no transcriptional differences in genes of the hepatic energy metabolism between animals of scrapie classes R1 and R5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Komolka
- Research Group Functional Genomics, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany
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