PrPTSE in muscle-associated lymphatic tissue during the preclinical stage of mice infected orally with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
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.
Cardone
Franco
F
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Thomzig
Achim
A
Robert Koch-Institut (P24 - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Schulz-Schaeffer
Walter
W
Prion and Dementia Research Unit, Department of Neuropathology, University Medical Center, Georg-August University Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
Valanzano
Angelina
A
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Sbriccoli
Marco
M
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Abdel-Haq
Hanin
H
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Graziano
Silvia
S
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Pritzkow
Sandra
S
Robert Koch-Institut (P24 - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Puopolo
Maria
M
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Brown
Paul
P
7815 Exeter Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
Beekes
Michael
M
Robert Koch-Institut (P24 - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Pocchiari
Maurizio
M
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
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*
D011328:Prions