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Rapid Procedure For Detecting Scrapie-Associated Fibrils In Chronic Wasting Disease Of Elk And Mule Deer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

C.E. Hearne
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY82070
J.L. Clapper
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY82070
K.L. DeVries
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY82070
E.S. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY82070
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Extract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of mule deer and elk. Affected animals are characterized clinically by a combination of abnormal behavior and gradual loss of body condition. The disease is invariably fatal. Diagnosis of CWD is made by histologic examination of the central nervous system and microscopic lesions of CWD are typical of the TSEs. Brains from CWD-suspect elk and mule deer can be examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the presence of scrapie-associated fibrils (SAF). Western blot methods identify abnormal prion protein (PrPres) which accumulates in the brains of animals with TSE, including CWD.

Conventional SAF purification procedures for TEM examination of CWD-suspect brain tissue require both high speed and ultracentrifugation steps followed by Proteinase K enzyme treatment. Modifications used in this experiment include early Proteinase K, or Proteinase K and Collagenase treatment prior to high speed centrifugation and the elimination of the ultracentrifugation step.

Type
Biological Specimen Preparation
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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6. The authors wish to thank Dr. R. Rubenstein, New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, 1050 Forest Hill Road, Staten Island, New York 10314 for providing the anti-SAF antibody.Google Scholar