title: A bovine cell line that can be infected by natural sheep scrapie prions.
abstract: Cell culture systems represent a crucial part in basic prion research; yet, cell lines that are susceptible to prions, especially to field isolated prions that were not adapted to rodents, are very rare. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize a cell line that was susceptible to ruminant-derived prions and to establish a stable prion infection within it. Based on species and tissue of origin as well as PrP expression rate, we pre-selected a total of 33 cell lines that were then challenged with natural and with mouse propagated BSE or scrapie inocula. Here, we report the successful infection of a non-transgenic bovine cell line, a sub-line of the bovine kidney cell line MDBK, with natural sheep scrapie prions. This cell line retained the scrapie infection for more than 200 passages. Selective cloning resulted in cell populations with increased accumulation of PrPres, although this treatment was not mandatory for retaining the infection. The infection remained stable, even under suboptimal culture conditions. The resulting infectivity of the cells was confirmed by mouse bioassay (Tgbov mice, Tgshp mice). We believe that PES cells used together with other prion permissive cell lines will prove a valuable tool for ongoing efforts to understand and defeat prions and prion diseases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany; Project Group Neuropharmacology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Oelschlegel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany; Department of Vascular Medicine, University Heart Centre Hamburg, UKE, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Geissen
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Animal Facilities and Biorisk Management at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenk
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Animal Facilities and Biorisk Management at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riebe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany; Administrative District Office Goerlitz, Goerlitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Marlies
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angermann
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schatzl
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schaetzl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Groschup
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission; D019286:Endopeptidase K / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D011328:Prions / Q000378:metabolism*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission*; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins; D011328:Prions; D019286:Endopeptidase K