Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) in sheep and goats. A typical feature of scrapie in sheep and goats is the accumulation of disease-associated cellular prion protein (PrPSc). It is also well known that scrapie PrPSc consists of many strains with different biological properties. In this study, nine natural sheep scrapie cases were transmitted to wild-type mice, and mouse-passaged isolates were classified into two types based on the incubation time: short (~150 days) and long (~270 days). These mouse-passaged isolates were transmitted to two different murine cell lines (mouse hypothalamic neuronal cell line; GT1–7 and mouse fibroblast cell line; L929) to analyse their properties. All of the isolates were transmitted to L929 cells. However, only mouse-passaged field isolates with a long incubation time were transmitted to GT1–7 cells. This specific susceptibility of GT1–7 cells was also confirmed with a primary-passaged isolate that was not completely adapted to the new host species. Therefore, this cell line will be a useful tool for the analysis and purification of slowly propagated prions in the in vivo environment. Characterization of the mechanisms of the specific susceptibility of GT1–7 cells to isolates with a long incubation time may lead to a greater understanding of the differences among prion strains.
(Influenza and Prion disease Research Center)
References:
Miyazawa K. et al (2014) Prion 8:306-313
