Infectious prions in brains and muscles of domestic pigs experimentally challenged with the BSE, scrapie, and CWD agents.

ABSTRACT: Experimental studies suggest that animal species not previously described as naturally infected by prions are susceptible to prion diseases affecting sheep, cattle, and deer. These interspecies transmissions may generate prions with unknown host ranges. Pigs are susceptible to prions from different origins, including deer chronic wasting disease (CWD), sheep scrapie, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Here, we studied prions in brains and muscles from pigs previously infected with these different prion sources. Specifically, we measured the total prion protein (PrP) and PK-resistant PrP by western blot. Seeding activity in these tissues was evaluated using the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique. We found that BSE-infected pigs contained substantially more see

SUBMITTER: Bravo-Risi F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12421853 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature