Florid plaques in ovine PrP transgenic mice infected with an experimental ovine BSE.
The occurrence of the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), raises the important question of the sources of human contamination. The possibility that sheep may have been fed with BSE-contaminated foodstuff raises the serious concern that BSE may now be present in sheep without being distinguishable from scrapie. Sensitive models are urgently needed given the dramatic consequences of such a possible contamination on animal and human health. We inoculated transgenic mice expressing the ovine PrP gene with a brain homogenate from sheep experimentally infected with BSE. We found numerous typical florid plaques in their brains. Such florid plaques are a feature of vCJD in humans and experimental BSE infection in macaques. Our observation represents the first description, after a primary infection, of this hallmark in a transgenic mouse model. Moreover, these mice appear to be a promising tool in the search for BSE in sheep.
Crozet
C
C
Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA), Unité de Virologie-ATNC, 31 Avenue Tony Garnier, 69364 Lyon, France. ccrozet@ens-lyon.fr
Bencsik
A
A
Flamant
F
F
Lezmi
S
S
Samarut
J
J
Baron
T
T
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002417:Cattle; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D003224:Congo Red / Q000494:pharmacology; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000635:transmission; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011328:Prions / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012756:Sheep; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
D004396:Coloring Agents; D011328:Prions; D003224:Congo Red