title: Infectious amyloid precursor gene sequences in primates used for experimental transmission of human spongiform encephalopathy.
abstract: Based on the analysis of genomic DNA from single healthy animals of each of five primate species, nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of the infectious amyloid precursor gene of higher apes (Gorilla and Pan) and Old World (Macaca) and New World (Ateles, Saimiri) monkeys showed 95-99% homology to the human sequences, corresponding to their phylogenetic distance from humans. Two of 18 amino acids that differed from humans resulted from nucleotide changes at sites of mutations in humans with familial forms of spongiform encephalopathy (a deleted codon within the codon 51-91 region of 24 bp repeats and a substitution at codon 198). In each of the five animals, codon 129 specified methionine, the more common of the two polymorphic genotypes in humans. Because genotypic homology did not correlate with experimental transmission rates of human spongiform encephalopathy, primary structural similarity of the infectious amyloid precursor protein in humans and experimental primates may not be an important factor in disease transmissibility.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cervenáková
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Goldfarb
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nagle
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pettrone
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rubenstein
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dubnick
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Gajdusek
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000682:Amyloid / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002427:Cebidae / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017931:DNA Primers; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000235:genetics; D015186:Hominidae / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017354:Point Mutation; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics*; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics*; D012453:Saimiri / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D017931:DNA Primers; C512656:PRNP protein, human; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; D011498:Protein Precursors; D004247:DNA