PrPC , the normal isoform of the prion component PrP Sc , is a 33-35-kDa glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein expressed in the plasma membrane of many cells and especially in the brain. The specific role of PrP C is unknown, although lately it has been shown to bind copper specifically. We show here that PrP C is present even in mature sperm cells, a polarized cell that retains only the minimal components required for DNA delivery, movement, and energy production. As opposed to PrP C in other cells, PrP in ejaculated sperm cells was truncated in its C terminus in the vicinity of residue 200. Sperm PrP, although membrane-bound, was not released by phosphatidylinositol phospholipase C as well as not localized in cholesterol-rich microdomains (rafts). Although no infertility was reported for PrP-ablated mice in normal situations, our results suggest that sperm cells originating from PrP-ablated mice were significantly more susceptible to high copper concentrations than sperm from wild type mice, allocating a protective role for PrP in specific stress situations related to copper toxicity. Since the functions performed by proteins in sperm cells are limited, these cells may constitute an ideal system to elucidate the function of PrP C .

Creutzfeldt±Jakob disease (CJD) in Libyan Jews, linked to the E200K mutation in PRNP (E200KCJD), is the most prevalent of the inherited prion diseases. As other prion diseases, E200KCJD is characterized by the brain accumulation of PrP Sc , a pathologic conformational isoform of a normal glycoprotein denominated PrP C . To investigate whether the E200K mutation is enough to de novo confer PrP Sc properties to mutant PrP, as suggested by experiments in Chinese hamster ovary cells, we examined the biochemical behavior of E200KPrP in brains and ®broblasts from sporadic as well as homozygous and heterozygous E200KCJD patients, asymptomatic transgenic mice carrying the E200K mutation, as well as in normal and scrapie-infected mouse neuroblastoma cells expressing E200KPrP. E200KPrP was examined for protease sensitivity, solubility in detergents, releasibility by phosphoinositol phospholypase-C and localization in cholesterol enriched membrane microdomains (rafts). In all tissues except in brains of CJD patients and ScN2a cells, E200KPrP displayed properties similar to those of PrP C . Our results indicate that the E200K mutation does not automatically convey the properties of PrP Sc to new PrP molecules. A conversion process occurs mainly in the prion disease affected brain, suggesting the presence of a tissue-speci®c or age-dependent factor, in accord with the late onset nature of inherited CJD.