A bovine prion acquires an epidemic bovine spongiform encephalopathy strain-like phenotype on interspecies transmission.
Implementation in Europe of large-scale testing to detect bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)-infected cattle and prevent the transmission of this prion disease to humans has recently led to the discovery of novel types of bovine prions. We characterized atypical isolates called BSE L-type by analyzing their molecular and neuropathological properties during transmission to several mouse lines transgenic for the prion protein (PrP). Unexpectedly, such isolates acquired strain features closely similar to those of BSE-type agents when propagated in mice expressing ovine PrP, although they retained phenotypic traits distinct from BSE in other lines, including bovine PrP mice. These findings further underline the relationship between the crossing of species barrier and prion strain diversification, and, although the origin of the epidemic BSE agent has only been speculative until now, they provide new insight into the nature of the events that could have led to the appearance of this agent.
Béringue
Vincent
V
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité de Recherche 892, Virologie Immunologie Moléculaires, F-78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France. vincent.beringue@jouy.inra.fr
Andréoletti
Olivier
O
Le Dur
Annick
A
Essalmani
Rachid
R
Vilotte
Jean-Luc
JL
Lacroux
Caroline
C
Reine
Fabienne
F
Herzog
Laëtitia
L
Biacabé
Anne-Gaëlle
AG
Baron
Thierry
T
Caramelli
Maria
M
Casalone
Cristina
C
Laude
Hubert
H
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002417:Cattle; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000635:transmission*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010641:Phenotype; D011328:Prions / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity
D011328:Prions