# Transmission of Prions from Mule Deer and Elk with Chronic Wasting Disease to MICE



## terry (Sep 13, 2002)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Transmission of Prions from Mule Deer and Elk with Chronic Wasting Disease to Transgenic Mice Expressing Cervid PrP
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:07:12 -0600
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <[email protected]>
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]


0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.23.13345-13350.2004
Copyright © 2004 , American Society
for Microbiology . All Rights Reserved.


Transmission of Prions from Mule Deer and Elk with Chronic Wasting
Disease to Transgenic Mice Expressing Cervid PrP

Shawn R. Browning,1 Gary L. Mason,2 Tanya Seward,3 Mike Green,4 Gwyneth
A. J. Eliason,5 Candace Mathiason,5 Michael W. Miller,6 Elizabeth S.
Williams,7 Ed Hoover,5 and Glenn C. Telling1,3,8*

Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics,1 Sanders
Brown Center on Aging,3 Department of Neurology,8 University of Kentucky
Transgenic Facility, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky,4
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory,2 Department of Microbiology,
Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University,5 Colorado Division
of Wildlife, Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado,6
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming7

Received 6 May 2004/ Accepted 3 August 2004

We generated mice expressing cervid prion protein to produce a
transgenic system simulating chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and
elk. While normal mice were resistant to CWD, these transgenic mice
uniformly developed signs of neurological dysfunction ~ 230 days
following intracerebral inoculation with four CWD isolates. Inoculated
transgenic mice homozygous for the transgene array developed disease
after ~ 160 days. The brains of sick transgenic mice exhibited
widespread spongiform degeneration and contained abnormal prion protein
and abundant amyloid plaques, many of which were florid plaques.
Transmission studies indicated that the same prion strain caused CWD in
the analyzed mule deer and elk. These mice provide a new and reliable
tool for detecting CWD prions.

http://jvi.asm.org/

TSS


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