title: Stability of murine scrapie strain 87V after  passage in sheep and comparison with the  CH1641 ovine strain.
abstract: Breed- and prion protein (PRNP) genotype-related disease phenotype variability has been observed in sheep infected with the 87V murine scrapie strain. Therefore, the stability of this strain was tested by inoculating sheep-derived 87V brain material back into VM mice. As some sheep-adapted 87V disease phenotypes were reminiscent of CH1641 scrapie, transgenic mice (Tg338) expressing ovine prion protein (PrP) were inoculated with the same sheep-derived 87V sources and with CH1641. Although at first passage in VM mice the sheep-derived 87V sources showed some divergence from the murine 87V control, all the characteristics of murine 87V infection were recovered at second passage from all sheep sources. These included 100 % attack rates and indistinguishable survival times, lesion profiles, immunohistochemical features of disease-associated PrP accumulation in the brain and PrP biochemical properties. All sheep-derived 87V sources, as well as CH1641, were transmitted to Tg338 mice with identical clinical, pathological, immunohistochemical and biochemical features. While this might potentially indicate that sheep-adapted 87V and CH1641 are the same strain, profound divergences were evident, as murine 87V was unable to infect Tg338 mice but was lethal for VM mice, while the reverse was true for CH1641. These combined data suggest that: (i) murine 87V is stable and retains its properties after passage in sheep; (ii) it can be isolated from sheep showing a CH1641-like or a more conventional scrapie phenotype; and (iii) sheep-adapted 87V scrapie, with conventional or CH1641-like phenotype, is biologically distinct from experimental CH1641 scrapie, despite the fact that they behave identically in a single transgenic mouse line.
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA-Lasswade), Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chianini
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gibbard
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA-Lasswade), Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Dagleish
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA-Lasswade), Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sisó
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Samantha L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA-Lasswade), Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Algar
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA-Lasswade), Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jeffrey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012608:Scrapie / Q000473:pathology*; D012756:Sheep; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins