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Identification of scrapie prion protein-specific mRNA in scrapie-infected and uninfected brain

Nature volume 315, pages 331–333 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

To date no nucleic acid has been found in the purified infectious agent which causes the spongiform encephalopathy known as scrapie. In an attempt to identify a unique scrapie virus-associated messenger RNA in tissues of infected animals, we have synthesized an oligonucleotide probe complementary to the mRNA sequence corresponding to the amino-acid sequence of the prion protein, PrP27–30 (ref. 1). We report here that, with this probe, a complementary DNA clone representing PrP27–30 was obtained from scrapie-infected mouse brain; the DNA sequence of this clone could be translated into a protein that matches exactly the published sequence of PrP27–30. The cDNA clone hybridized to a single 2.4–2.5-kilobase (kb) mRNA from both normal and scrapie-infected brain. Thus, the PrP27–30 mRNA is not uniquely associated with scrapie infectivity, suggesting that PrP27–30 may be a normal component of mouse and hamster brain.

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Author notes

  1. Leonard Mayer

    Present address: Division of Bacterial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia, 30333, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Montana, 59840, USA

    Bruce Chesebro, Richard Race, Kathy Wehrly, Jane Nishio, Marshall Bloom & David Lechner

  2. Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Montana, 59840, USA

    Sven Bergstrom, Ken Robbins & Leonard Mayer

  3. Laboratory of Pathobiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Montana, 59840, USA

    Jerry M. Keith & Claude Garon

  4. Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA

    Ashley Haase

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  1. Bruce Chesebro
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Chesebro, B., Race, R., Wehrly, K. et al. Identification of scrapie prion protein-specific mRNA in scrapie-infected and uninfected brain. Nature 315, 331–333 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/315331a0

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