Contribution à l'étude de la diversité biochimique et biologique des agents des encéphalopathies spongiformes transmissibles

Les encéphalopathies spongiformes transmissibles (EST) sont caractérisées par l'accumulation d'une protéine, la PrPSc, dans le système nerveux central des individus malades. Selon le concept du prion, la PrPSc serait l'agent infectieux responsable des EST. La capacité des typages biologique (in vivo) et biochimique (étude des propriétés de la PrPSc) des souches de prion à refléter la réelle diversité des agents des EST reste incertaine. La première partie de notre travail a consisté à étudier le phénotype biochimique de la PrPSc au sein d'un panel d'isolats de maladie de Creutzfeldt-Jakob (MCJ) préalablement classés sur la base de critères génétiques et clinico-lésionnels. Nous avons pu définir quatre groupes biochimiques distincts ne correspondant que partiellement aux catégories de la classification pré-établie et pouvant potentiellement correspondre à différentes souches de prion. Dans le deuxième volet de nos travaux, nous avons étudié la capacité d'isolats de tremblante à se propager dans divers modèles de souris transgéniques exprimant une PrP hétérologue ainsi que les conséquences de ces transmissions interspécifiques sur leurs propriétés biologiques et biochimiques. Nous avons pu démontrer que le franchissement des barrières d'espèces porcine et bovine par l'agent de la tremblante atypique entraînait l'émergence de nouveaux prions, dont celui responsable de l'encéphalopathie spongiforme bovine. Par ailleurs, nous avons réussi à transmettre plusieurs isolats de tremblante classique à deux lignées de souris transgéniques exprimant la PrP humaine. Dans l'une de ces lignées, la signature biochimique de l'agent propagé était similaire à celle d'isolats de MCJ sporadique.Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) are characterized by the accumulation of a protein called PrPSc in the central nervous system of affected individuals. According to the prion hypothesis, PrPSc itself is the infectious agent in TSE. Whether biological (in vivo) and biochemical (study of the properties of PrPSc) prion strain typing can reflect the whole diversity of TSE agents remains doubtful. Within this context, the first part of our work consisted of establishing the biochemical phenotype of PrPSc in a large panel of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) isolates that had been previously classified according to genetic and clinico-pathological criteria. We identified four biochemical subgroups that only partially correlated with the pre-established subclassification and could therefore represent different prion strains. In the second part of our work we looked into the ability of scrapie isolates to propagate into murine transgenic models expressing PrPC of various species. We demonstrated that passage across the porcine and bovine species barriers by the atypical scrapie agent led to the emergence of new prions, including the agent of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Furthermore, we managed to transmit several classical scrapie isolates to two different transgenic mice strains expressing human PrP. In one of these models, the biochemical signature of the propagated agent was similar to that of sporadic CJD isolates

Infections croisées à alphaherpèsvirus chez les ruminants : application au contrôle de la rhinotrachéite infectieuse bovine

L 'herpèsvirus bovin de type 1 (BHV-1) est responsable de la rhinotrachéite infectieuse bovine (IBR), maladie contagieuse dont le contrôle représente un enjeu économique majeur en Europe. Qutre autres alphaherpèsvirus lui sont apparentés : l'herpèsvirus bovin de type 5, l'herpèsvirus caprin de type 1 (CapHV-1), l'herpèsvirus du cerf et l'herpèsvirus du renne. Cette étude bibliographique ananlyse l'impact des infections croisées à alphaherpèsvirus des ruminants sur les plans de contrôle de l'IBR en évaluant d'une part les conséquences de l'infection des bovins par les quatre virus apparentés au BHV-1 et d'autre par les possibilités d'installation du BHV-1 à l'état latent chez une autre espèce de ruminant. Bien que les bovins puissent être infectés par le CapHV-1 et que le mouton et la chèvre représentant des réservoirs potentiels de BHV-1, les possibilités de contamination entre espèces apparaissent réduites. Enfin, aucun test sérologique ne permet de différencier clairement ces infections

Differential astrocyte and oligodendrocyte vulnerability in murine Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Glial vulnerability to prions is assessed in murine Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) using the tg340 mouse line expressing four-fold human PrP M129 levels on a mouse PrP null background at different days following intracerebral inoculation of sCJD MM1 brain tissues homogenates. The mRNA expression of several astrocyte markers, including glial fibrillary acidic protein (gfap), aquaporin-4 (aqp4), solute carrier family 16, member 4 (mct4), mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1 (mpc1) and solute carrier family 1, member 2 (glial high-affinity glutamate transporter, slc1a2) increases at 120 and 180 dpi. In contrast, the mRNA expression of oligodendrocyte and myelin markers oligodendrocyte transcription factor 1 (olig1), olig2, neural/glial antigen 2 (cspg), solute carrier family 16, member 1 (mct1), myelin basic protein (mbp), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (mog) and proteolipid protein 1 (plp1) is preserved. Yet, myelin regulatory factor (myrf) mRNA is increased at 180 dpi. In the striatum, a non-significant increase in the number of GFAP-positive astrocytes and Iba1-immunoreactive microglia occurs at 160 dpi; a significant increase in the number of astrocytes and microglia, and a significant reduction in the number of Olig2-immunoreactive oligodendrocytes occur at 180 dpi. A decrease of MBP, but not PLP1, immunoreactivity is also observed in the striatal fascicles. These observations confirm the vulnerability and the reactive responses of astrocytes, together with the microgliosis at middle stages of prion diseases. More importantly, these findings show oligodendrocyte vulnerability and myelin alterations at advanced stages of murine CJD. They confirm oligodendrocyte involvement in the pathogenesis of CJD

Transgenic Mice Expressing Porcine Prion Protein Resistant to Classical Scrapie but Susceptible to Sheep Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Atypical Scrapie

Atypical scrapie strain phenotypes may shift when transmitted to a new host

The emergence of classical BSE from atypical/Nor98 scrapie

Atypical/Nor98 scrapie (AS) is a prion disease of small ruminants. Currently there are no efficient measures to control this form of prion disease, and, importantly, the zoonotic potential and the risk that AS might represent for other farmed animal species remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the capacity of AS to propagate in bovine PrP transgenic mice. Unexpectedly, the transmission of AS isolates originating from 5 different European countries to bovine PrP mice resulted in the propagation of the classical BSE (c-BSE) agent. Detection of prion seeding activity in vitro by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) demonstrated that low levels of the c-BSE agent were present in the original AS isolates. C-BSE prion seeding activity was also detected in brain tissue of ovine PrP mice inoculated with limiting dilutions (endpoint titration) of ovine AS isolates. These results are consistent with the emergence and replication of c-BSE prions during the in vivo propagation of AS isolates in the natural host. These data also indicate that c-BSE prions, a known zonotic agent in humans, can emerge as a dominant prion strain during passage of AS between different species. These findings provide an unprecedented insight into the evolution of mammalian prion strain properties triggered by intra- and interspecies passage. From a public health perspective, the presence of c-BSE in AS isolates suggest that cattle exposure to small ruminant tissues and products could lead to new occurrences of c-BSE.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The emergence of classical BSE from atypical/Nor98 scrapie.

Atypical/Nor98 scrapie (AS) is a prion disease of small ruminants. Currently there are no efficient measures to control this form of prion disease, and, importantly, the zoonotic potential and the risk that AS might represent for other farmed animal species remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the capacity of AS to propagate in bovine PrP transgenic mice. Unexpectedly, the transmission of AS isolates originating from 5 different European countries to bovine PrP mice resulted in the propagation of the classical BSE (c-BSE) agent. Detection of prion seeding activity in vitro by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) demonstrated that low levels of the c-BSE agent were present in the original AS isolates. C-BSE prion seeding activity was also detected in brain tissue of ovine PrP mice inoculated with limiting dilutions (endpoint titration) of ovine AS isolates. These results are consistent with the emergence and replication of c-BSE prions during the in vivo propagation of AS isolates in the natural host. These data also indicate that c-BSE prions, a known zonotic agent in humans, can emerge as a dominant prion strain during passage of AS between different species. These findings provide an unprecedented insight into the evolution of mammalian prion strain properties triggered by intra- and interspecies passage. From a public health perspective, the presence of c-BSE in AS isolates suggest that cattle exposure to small ruminant tissues and products could lead to new occurrences of c-BSE.This work was funded by FEDER POCTEFA TRANSPRION (EFA282/13) and REDPRION (EFA148/16), by the UK Food Standards Agency Exploring permeability of the species barrier (M03043 and FS231051), by the European Union through FP7 222887 “Priority”, the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [AGL2016-78054-R (AEI/FEDER, UE). A.M.-M. was supported by a fellowship from the INIA (FPI-SGIT-2015-02), and P.A.-C. was supported by a fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BES-2010-040922)

Beyond PrPres Type 1/Type 2 Dichotomy in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) cases are currently subclassified according to the methionine/valine polymorphism at codon 129 of the PRNP gene and the proteinase K (PK) digested abnormal prion protein (PrPres) identified on Western blotting (type 1 or type 2). These biochemically distinct PrPres types have been considered to represent potential distinct prion strains. However, since cases of CJD show co-occurrence of type 1 and type 2 PrPres in the brain, the basis of this classification system and its relationship to agent strain are under discussion. Different brain areas from 41 sCJD and 12 iatrogenic CJD (iCJD) cases were investigated, using Western blotting for PrPres and two other biochemical assays reflecting the behaviour of the disease-associated form of the prion protein (PrPSc) under variable PK digestion conditions. In 30% of cases, both type 1 and type 2 PrPres were identified. Despite this, the other two biochemical assays found that PrPSc from an individual patient demonstrated uniform biochemical properties. Moreover, in sCJD, four distinct biochemical PrPSc subgroups were identified that correlated with the current sCJD clinico-pathological classification. In iCJD, four similar biochemical clusters were observed, but these did not correlate to any particular PRNP 129 polymorphism or western blot PrPres pattern. The identification of four different PrPSc biochemical subgroups in sCJD and iCJD, irrespective of the PRNP polymorphism at codon 129 and the PrPres isoform provides an alternative biochemical definition of PrPSc diversity and new insight in the perception of Human TSE agents variability

Allelic Interference in Prion Replication Is Modulated by the Convertibility of the Interfering PrPC and Other Host-Specific Factors

17 Pág.Early studies in transgenic mouse lines have shown that the coexpression of endogenous murine prion protein (PrPC) and transgenic PrPC from another species either inhibits or allows the propagation of prions, depending on the infecting prion strain and interacting protein species. The way whereby this phenomenon, so-called "interference," is modulated remains to be determined. In this study, different transgenic mouse lines were crossbred to produce mice coexpressing bovine and porcine PrPC, bovine and murine PrPC, or murine and porcine PrPC These animals and their respective hemizygous controls were inoculated with several prion strains from different sources (cattle, mice, and pigs) to examine the effects of the simultaneous presence of PrPC from two different species. Our results indicate interference with the infection process, manifested as extended survival times and reduced attack rates. The interference with the infectious process was reduced or absent when the potentiality interfering PrPC species was efficiently converted by the inoculated agent. However, the propagation of the endogenous murine PrPSc was favored, allowing us to speculate that host-specific factors may disturb the interference caused by the coexpression of an exogenous second PrPC IMPORTANCE Prion propagation can be interfered with by the expression of a second prion protein in the host. In the present study, we investigated prion propagation in a host expressing two different prion protein genes. Our findings indicate that the ability of the second prion protein to interfere with prion propagation is related to the transmissibility of the prion in the host expressing only the interfering prion protein. The interference detected occurs in a prion strain-dependent manner. Interestingly, a bias favoring the propagation of the murine PrP allele has been observed. These results open the door to future studies in order to determine the role of host factors other than the PrP amino acid sequence in the interference in prion propagation.This work was funded by EU Projects FOOD-CT-2006-36353 (Goat-BSE) and CT2009-222887 (Priority) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (grant AGL2016-78054-R [AEI/FEDER, UE]) and a fellowship (BES-2010-040922) to P.A.-C. A.M.-M. was supported by a fellowship from the INIA (FPI-SGIT-2015-02).Peer reviewe

Prions in Milk from Ewes Incubating Natural Scrapie

Since prion infectivity had never been reported in milk, dairy products originating from transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE)-affected ruminant flocks currently enter unrestricted into the animal and human food chain. However, a recently published study brought the first evidence of the presence of prions in mammary secretions from scrapie-affected ewes. Here we report the detection of consistent levels of infectivity in colostrum and milk from sheep incubating natural scrapie, several months prior to clinical onset. Additionally, abnormal PrP was detected, by immunohistochemistry and PET blot, in lacteal ducts and mammary acini. This PrPSc accumulation was detected only in ewes harbouring mammary ectopic lymphoid follicles that developed consequent to Maedi lentivirus infection. However, bioassay revealed that prion infectivity was present in milk and colostrum, not only from ewes with such lympho-proliferative chronic mastitis, but also from those displaying lesion-free mammary glands. In milk and colostrum, infectivity could be recovered in the cellular, cream, and casein-whey fractions. In our samples, using a Tg 338 mouse model, the highest per ml infectious titre measured was found to be equivalent to that contained in 6 µg of a posterior brain stem from a terminally scrapie-affected ewe. These findings indicate that both colostrum and milk from small ruminants incubating TSE could contribute to the animal TSE transmission process, either directly or through the presence of milk-derived material in animal feedstuffs. It also raises some concern with regard to the risk to humans of TSE exposure associated with milk products from ovine and other TSE-susceptible dairy species