Transmissibility of H-Type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy to Hamster PrP Transgenic Mice

Two distinct forms of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathies (H-BSE and L-BSE) can be distinguished from classical (C-) BSE found in cattle based on biochemical signatures of disease-associated prion protein (PrP(Sc)). H-BSE is transmissible to wild-type mice—with infected mice showing a long survival period that is close to their normal lifespan—but not to hamsters. Therefore, rodent-adapted H-BSE with a short survival period would be useful for analyzing H-BSE characteristics. In this study, we investigated the transmissibility of H-BSE to hamster prion protein transgenic (TgHaNSE) mice with long survival periods. Although none of the TgHaNSE mice manifested the disease during their lifespan, PrP(Sc) accumulation was observed in some areas of the brain after the first passage. With subsequent passages, TgHaNSE mice developed the disease with a mean survival period of 220 days. The molecular characteristics of proteinase K-resistant PrP(Sc) (PrP(res)) in the brain were identical to those observed in first-passage mice. The distribution of immunolabeled PrP(Sc) in the brains of TgHaNSE mice differed between those infected with H-BSE as compared to C-BSE or L-BSE, and the molecular properties of PrP(res) in TgHaNSE mice infected with H-BSE differed from those of the original isolate. The strain-specific electromobility, glycoform profiles, and proteolytic cleavage sites of H-BSE in TgHaNSE mice were indistinguishable from those of C-BSE, in which the diglycosylated form was predominant. These findings indicate that strain-specific pathogenic characteristics and molecular features of PrP(res) in the brain are altered during cross-species transmission. Typical H-BSE features were restored after back passage from TgHaNSE to bovinized transgenic mice, indicating that the H-BSE strain was propagated in TgHaNSE mice. This could result from the overexpression of the hamster prion protein.