Prion replication in organotypic brain slice cultures is distinct from in vivo inoculation and is species dependent.

ABSTRACT: Cultured brain slices rapidly replicate murine prions, exhibit prion pathology, and are amenable towards drug discovery, but have not been infected with human prions. As deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are susceptible to human prions in vivo, here we investigated deer mouse organotypic brain slice cultures as a potential model of human prion disease. Deer mouse brain slices supported replication of rodent-adapted strains of scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), but they resisted infection with primary human prion inoculum. To better understand this discrepancy, we quantified prion replication rates, characterized cellular and molecular changes, and estimated inoculum clearance within wildtype CD1 and deer mouse brain slice cultures. Prion replication rates varied by species, stra

SUBMITTER: Slota JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12042311 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature