Synthetic Mammalian Prions

Giuseppe Legname(University of California, San Francisco), Ilia V. Baskakov(University of California, San Francisco), Hoang-Oanh B. Nguyen(University of California, San Francisco), Detlev Riesner(University of California, San Francisco), Fred E. Cohen(University of California, San Francisco), Stephen J. DeArmond(University of California, San Francisco), Stanley B. Prusiner(University of California, San Francisco)
Science
July 30, 2004
10.1126/science.1100195
Cited by 1,018

Abstract

Recombinant mouse prion protein (recMoPrP) produced in Escherichia coli was polymerized into amyloid fibrils that represent a subset of beta sheet-rich structures. Fibrils consisting of recMoPrP(89-230) were inoculated intracerebrally into transgenic (Tg) mice expressing MoPrP(89-231). The mice developed neurologic dysfunction between 380 and 660 days after inoculation. Brain extracts showed protease-resistant PrP by Western blotting; these extracts transmitted disease to wild-type FVB mice and Tg mice overexpressing PrP, with incubation times of 150 and 90 days, respectively. Neuropathological findings suggest that a novel prion strain was created. Our results provide compelling evidence that prions are infectious proteins.

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