title: Two different scrapie prions isolated in Japanese sheep flocks.
abstract: Two different scrapie prion strains with different characteristics were obtained from two sheep naturally infected with scrapie in Japan. In mice transmission, one (Tsukuba-1) showed shorter incubation periods (133+/-2 days) than the other (Tsukuba-2) (288+/-5 days). Spongiform changes and accumulation of an abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrP(Sc)) were observed throughout the brain in Tsukuba-1 inoculated mice, while the lesions and the PrP(Sc) accumulation were localized in the brain stem of mice with Tsukuba-2. Western blot analysis showed that there was no strain-specific glycoform of PrP(Sc) within these two strains. A super-infection experiment revealed that neither strain interfered with the other's propagation.
authors.affiliation: Prion Disease Research Center, National Institute of Animal Health,Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirogari
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Kumiko M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haritani
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D007564:Japan; D051379:Mice; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism*; D012756:Sheep; D015163:Superinfection
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins