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From: TSS ()
Journal of Virology, July 2005, p. 8665-8668, Vol. 79, No. 13 Vertical Transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Prions Evaluated in a Transgenic Mouse Model J. Castilla,1 A. Brun,1 F. Díaz-San Segundo,1 F. J. Salguero,1 A. Gutiérrez-Adán,2 B. Pintado,2 M. A. Ramírez,2 L. del Riego,1 and J. M. Torres1* Received 4 November 2004/ Accepted 3 March 2005 In this work we show evidence of mother-to-offspring transmission in a transgenic mouse line expressing bovine PrP (boTg) experimentally infected by intracerebral administration of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions. PrPres was detected in brains of newborns from infected mothers only when mating was allowed near to the clinical stage of disease, when brain PrPres deposition could be detected by Western blot analysis. Attempts to detect infectivity in milk after intracerebral inoculation in boTg mice were unsuccessful, suggesting the involvement of other tissues as carriers of prion dissemination. The results shown here prove the ability of BSE prions to spread centrifugally from the central nervous system to peripheral tissues and to offspring in a mouse model. Also, these results may complement previous epidemiological data supporting the occurrence of vertical BSE transmission in cattle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal INIA, Valdeolmos, 28130 Madrid, Spain. Phone: 34 91 620 23 00. Fax: 34 91 620 22 47. E-mail: jmtorres@inia.es. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Journal of Virology, July 2005, p. 8665-8668, Vol. 79, No. 13
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