[Analyses of the expressions of GFAP in the brain tissues of hamsters infected with various amounts of scrapie strain 263K at terminal stage].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether gliosis in the brain tissues of the hamsters infected with various amounts of scrapie strain 263K is correlated with the inoculation doses or the incubation times.


METHODS
The total values of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in brains were evaluated by Western Blots and the GFAP-stained cells were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The characteristics of GFAP distributions among various groups were defined by quantitive and statistic analyses.


RESULTS
Compared with the brain tissues of normal hamsters, remarkably higher total GFAP levels and more GFAP-stained cells were observed in the brain tissues of infected ones, howbeit, no significant difference was addressed among the infected groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Inoculations of various amounts of scrapie strain 263K into experimental hamsters intracerebrally induced the similar patterns of gliosis in the brains at the clinically terminal stage, regardless of infectious doses and incubation times.
Tian
Chan
C
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China.
Zhang
Bao-Yun
BY
Shi
Qi
Q
Han
Jun
J
Gao
Chen
C
Han
Lu
L
Dong
Xiao-Ping
XP
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006224:Cricetinae; D015870:Gene Expression; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005911:Gliosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D018620:PrPSc Proteins