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Scrapie strains maintain biological phenotypes on propagation in a cell line in culture
Author(s) -
Birkett Christopher R.,
Hennion Ruth M.,
Bembridge Dawn A.,
Clarke Michael C.,
Chree Aileen,
Bruce Moira E.,
Bostock Christopher J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/20.13.3351
Subject(s) - scrapie , biology , transmissible spongiform encephalopathy , phenotype , strain (injury) , bovine spongiform encephalopathy , virology , cell culture , cell , cell type , clone (java method) , genetics , prion protein , gene , disease , pathology , medicine , anatomy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human equivalent, variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), are caused by the same strain of infectious agent, which is similar to, but distinct from, >20 strains of their sheep scrapie homologue. A better understanding of the molecular strain determinants could be obtained from cells in monoculture than from whole animal studies where different cell targeting is commonly a strain‐related feature. Although a few cell types can be infected with different strains, the phenotypes of the emergent strains have not been studied. We have cured the scrapie‐infected, clonal SMB cell line with pentosan sulfate, stably re‐infected it with a different strain of scrapie and shown that biological properties and prion protein profiles characteristic of each original strain are propagated faithfully in this single non‐neuronal cell type. These findings attest to the fact that scrapie strain determinants are stable and host‐independent in isolated cells.