Two different scrapie prions isolated in Japanese sheep flocks.
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.
Hirogari
Yasuhiro
Y
Prion Disease Research Center, National Institute of Animal Health,Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Kubo
Masanori
M
Kimura
Kumiko M
KM
Haritani
Makoto
M
Yokoyama
Takashi
T
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D007564:Japan; D051379:Mice; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism*; D012756:Sheep; D015163:Superinfection
D018620:PrPSc Proteins