Biological and biochemical characterization of M2B cells: Classical BSE prion is conserved in transgenic mice overexpressing bovine prion protein gene

Abstract

M2B cells with persistent classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (C-BSE) have been established previously. In this study, we performed strain characterization of the M2B cell line in bovine PrP overexpressing mice (Tg 1896). Mice intracranially inoculated with M2B cells and C-BSE survived for 451 ± 7 and 465 ± 31 d post inoculation, respectively. Although biochemical properties, including deglycosylation and conformational stability, differed between M2B cells and C-BSE, inoculation with M2B cell lysate and C-BSE resulted in comparable phenotypes. Comparable vacuolation scores and PrP depositions were observed in the brain of Tg 1896 inoculated with both M2B cell lysate and C-BSE. Our results show that biochemical and biological characteristics of M2B cells and C-BSE are classifiable in the same strain.

Polymorphisms of the prion‐related protein gene are strongly associated with cervids’ susceptibility to chronic wasting disease

“…Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion-related transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids such as scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), fatal familial insomnia and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome in humans. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] CWD is transmitted horizontally and vertically through abnormal prion protein (PrP Sc ), which originates from normal prion protein (PrP C ). Since CWD was first reported in the USA in 1967, intercontinental propagation has also occurred from America to Asia and Europe.…”