title: Prion protein immunohistochemical staining in the brains of monkeys with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.
abstract: Prion protein (PrP) immunohistochemical staining of the brains of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) with experimental transmissible spongiform encephalopathy is described. The monkeys (n = 17) had been injected, intracerebrally, 17-49 months previously with homogenates of brain tissue taken post mortem from a cow with BSE (n = 2 monkeys), a sheep with natural scrapie (n = 2 monkeys), human cases of growth hormone related Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) (n = 2 monkeys), sporadic CJD (n = 5 monkeys), or Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS) (n = 4 monkeys), or from monkeys with spongiform encephalopathy resulting from injection with brain tissue from these last two cases (n = 1 monkey from each case). Only diffuse PrP-staining was seen in monkeys injected with CJD-material whereas more aggregated deposits of PrP were seen in monkeys injected with BSE-, scrapie--and GSS-brain tissue. There were no patterns of staining specific to the brains injected with BSE-material that could be used to identify the origin of that inoculum. BSE--and scrapie-injected monkey brains could be distinguished from each other because in BSE-injected monkey brain the spongiform vacuolation was largely confined to subcortical structures whereas in scrapie-injected monkey brain the spongiform vacuolation was also prominent in the neocortex. The patterns of PrP deposition differed markedly between those seen in monkey brains injected with BSE-material or CJD-material, but the patterns of PrP staining seen in monkey brains injected with BSE-material were also seen in monkey brains injected with scrapie--or GSS-material. Overall there was a correlation between the length of the incubation period and the amount of aggregated PrP-staining, but no correlation between the neuropathological picture and the clinical presentation of neurological signs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology, Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, UK.
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ridley
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Ironside
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D002144:Callithrix; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011328:Prions / Q000032:analysis*; D012756:Sheep; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011328:Prions