Identification of scrapie prion protein-specific mRNA in scrapie-infected and uninfected brain.
To date no nucleic acid has been found in the purified infectious agent which causes the spongiform encephalopathy known as scrapie. In an attempt to identify a unique scrapie virus-associated messenger RNA in tissues of infected animals, we have synthesized an oligonucleotide probe complementary to the mRNA sequence corresponding to the amino-acid sequence of the prion protein, PrP27-30 (ref. 1). We report here that, with this probe, a complementary DNA clone representing PrP27-30 was obtained from scrapie-infected mouse brain; the DNA sequence of this clone could be translated into a protein that matches exactly the published sequence of PrP27-30. The cDNA clone hybridized to a single 2.4-2.5-kilobase (kb) mRNA from both normal and scrapie-infected brain. Thus, the PrP27-30 mRNA is not uniquely associated with scrapie infectivity, suggesting that PrP27-30 may be a normal component of mouse and hamster brain.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D006224:Cricetinae; D051379:Mice; D011328:Prions / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D011328:Prions; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014764:Viral Proteins