Erratum to

Abstract

Erratum to:

Generation of antisera to purified prions in lipid rafts

Volume 4, Issue 2

April/May/June 2010

Pages 94 - 104

DOI: 10.4161/pri.4.2.12622

Robert Hnasko, Ana V. Serban, George Carlson, Stanley Prusiner and Larry H. Stanker

This article refers to:

Generation of antisera to purified prions in lipid rafts

During recent studies with detergent-resistant membrane (DRM) preparations, we found that our published titers of Syrian hamster prions were incorrect (Figure 5B). From a re-examination of the data, we believe that some of the hamsters used in bioassays were diagnosed with scrapie before progressive CNS dysfunction occurred. When we used the time of death (Figure 5A) to calculate the prion titers, a more plausible set of data emerged. To do this, we used the equation:

Log Titer = 25.33 − [12.47 × log(Z-61)] − logD

Where Z is the survival time in days, D is dilution factor and Titer is expressed in ID₅₀ units per mL of the sample (1).

The results are summarized in new Figure 5B (below). As shown, the titer of the fraction denoted “PrP^Sc DRM-PK-PTA-G100” was 1.2 × 10⁶ ID₅₀ units/mL. While this fraction proved to be the most useful in raising anti-PrP antibodies, it exhibited much lower scrapie prion specific infectivity than we initially surmised.

We also found an error in Materials and Methods (page 100) describing the breeding of Prnp^0/0/Balb/cJ mice; they were produced by backcrossing Balb/cJ mice with FVB/Prnp^0/0 mice, not 129/SvJ/C57-Bl6 Prnp^0/0 mice as stated.

Figures and Tables

Figure 5B Comparison of ID₅₀ and specific infectivity in ill hamsters following intracerebral inoculation of PrPSc Brain as a 1% crude brain homogenate (25 µg), PrPSc DRM (1.35 µg) and purified PrPSc DRM-PK-PTA-G100 (0.8 µg). Isolation of PrPSc in DRMs from lipid rafts resulted in a >20-fold increase in specific infectivity relative to crude brain, but much less infectivity was found in the purified PrPSc DRM-PK-PTA-G100 fraction.