title: Stability of bovine spongiform encephalopathy prions: absence of prion protein degradation by bovine gut microbiota.
abstract: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is transmitted by the oral route. However, the impacts of anaerobic fermentation processes in cattle on the stability of BSE-associated prion protein (PrP(Sc)) are still unresolved. In this study, experiments were designed to assess the ability of complex ruminal and colonic contents of bovines to degrade BSE-derived PrP(Sc). No significant decrease in PrP(Sc) levels in BSE brain homogenates was detected by Western blotting after up to 66 h of co-incubation with intestinal fluids. These results indicate that BSE-associated PrP(Sc) survive gastrointestinal digestion processes in cattle and might be excreted via faeces.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max-Rubner-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Nutrition and Food, Kulmbach, Germany. christina.boehnlein@mri.bund.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Böhnlein
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Groschup
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maertlbauer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pichner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gareis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology*; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000378:metabolism / Q000635:transmission*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D054892:Metagenome; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D059748:Proteolysis; D012417:Rumen / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins