title: PrPTSE in muscle-associated lymphatic tissue during the preclinical stage of mice infected orally with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
abstract: The involvement of muscles in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) is irregular and unpredictable. We show that the TSE-specific protein (PrP(TSE)) is present in muscles of mice fed with a mouse-adapted strain of bovine spongiform encephalopathy as early as 100 days post-infection, corresponding to about one-third of the incubation period. The proportion of mice with PrP(TSE)-positive muscles and the number of muscles involved increased as infection progressed, but never attained more than a limited distribution, even at the clinical stage of disease. The appearance of PrP(TSE) in muscles during the preclinical stage of disease was probably due to the haematogenous/lymphatic spread of infectivity from the gastrointestinal tract to lymphatic tissues associated with muscles, whereas in symptomatic animals, the presence of PrP(TSE) in the nervous system, in neuromuscular junctions and in muscle fibres suggests a centrifugal spread from the central nervous system, as already observed in other TSE models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cardone
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch-Institut (P24 - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thomzig
authors.affiliation: Prion and Dementia Research Unit, Department of Neuropathology, University Medical Center, Georg-August University Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schulz-Schaeffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valanzano
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sbriccoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Hanin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdel-Haq
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Graziano
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch-Institut (P24 - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pritzkow
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puopolo
authors.affiliation: 7815 Exeter Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch-Institut (P24 - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beekes
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pocchiari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D011328:Prions / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D011328:Prions