Nature 261, 144 - 145 (13 May 1976); doi:10.1038/261144a0

Infection of a cell line of mouse L fibroblasts with scrapie agent

M. C. CLARKE & G. C. MILLSON

ARC Institute for Research on Animal Diseases, Compton, Newbury, Berkshire RG16 ONN, UK

THE infection of cell cultures with the causative agents of subacute spongiform encephalopathies — scrapie, kuru, Creutzfeldt−Jakob disease and transmissible mink encepha-lopathy—has not yet been reported. The development of a cell line (SMB), from the brain of a mouse affected with scrapie, in which the agent multiplies has shown that replication in vitro is possible¹. Studies with this cell line have, however, been limited because no control culture was available for comparative studies. This limitation has now, in part, been overcome by the successful infection of cultures of mouse L cells with scrapie agent, as described here.

References

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4.	Clarke, M. C., and Haig, D. A., Res. vet. Sci., 20, 106–107 (1976).
5.	Clarke, M. C., and Millson, G. C., J. gen. Virol. (in the press).