Susceptibility of GT1–7 cells to mouse-passaged field scrapie isolates with a long incubation

Abstract

A typical feature of scrapie in sheep and goats is the accumulation of disease-associated prion protein. Scrapie consists of many strains with different biological properties. Nine natural sheep scrapie cases were transmitted to wild-type mice and mouse-passaged isolates were classified into 2 types based on incubation time: short and long. These 2 types displayed a distinct difference in their pathology. We attempted to transmit these mouse-passaged isolates to 2 murine cell lines (GT1–7 and L929) to compare 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. 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.

Keywords:

• cell susceptibility, prion, scrapie, strains

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Naoko Tabeta, Ritsuko Miwa, Naomi Furuya, Junko Yamada, and the animal laboratory staff of NIAH for their technical and animal care assistance.

Funding

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the BSE and other Prion Disease Control Project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, and in part by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan and in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (Category B) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.