Post-translational changes to PrP alter transmissible spongiform encephalopathy strain properties.

The agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, contain as a major component PrP(Sc), an abnormal conformer of the host glycoprotein PrP(C). TSE agents are distinguished by differences in phenotypic properties in the host, which nevertheless can contain PrP(Sc) with the same amino-acid sequence. If PrP alone carries information defining strain properties, these must be encoded by post-translational events. Here we investigated whether the glycosylation status of host PrP affects TSE strain characteristics. We inoculated wild-type mice with three TSE strains passaged through transgenic mice with PrP devoid of glycans at the first, second or both N-glycosylation sites. We compared the infectious properties of the emerging isolates with TSE strains passaged in wild-type mice by in vivo strain typing and by the standard scrapie cell assay in vitro. Strain-specific characteristics of the 79A TSE strain changed when PrP(Sc) was devoid of one or both glycans. Thus infectious properties of a TSE strain can be altered by post-translational changes to PrP which we propose result in the selection of mutant TSE strains.

Mutability of prions.

Murine prions transferred from brain to cultured cells gradually adapt to the new environment. Brain-derived 22L prions can infect neuroblastoma-derived PK1 cells in the presence of swainsonine (swa); that is, they are 'swa resistant'. PK1 cell-adapted 22L prions are swa sensitive; however, propagation in swa results in selection of swa-resistant substrains. Cloned, PK1 cell-adapted 22L prions were initially unable to develop swa resistance ('swa incompetent'); however, after serial propagation for 30-90 doublings, four of nine clones became swa competent, showing that swa-resistant 'mutants' arose during replication. Mutations in the case of prions are attributed to heritable changes in PrP(Sc) conformation. One clone remained swa incompetent even after 10(35)-fold expansion; surprisingly, after propagation in brain, it yielded swa-resistant prions, indistinguishable from the original 22L population. Thus, cell-adapted 22L prions assumed either mutable or virtually immutable conformations; however, when passaged through the brain all became mutable. Mutability is thus a substrain-specific attribute.

Prions on the move.

Prions consist mainly, if not entirely, of PrP(Sc), an aggregated conformer of the host protein PrP(C). Prions come in different strains, all based on the same PrP(C) sequence, but differing in their conformations. The efficiency of prion transmission between species is usually low, but increases after serial transmission in the new host, suggesting a process involving mutation and selection. Even within the same species, the transfer of prions between cell types entails a selection of favoured 'substrains', and propagation of prions in the presence of an inhibitory drug can result in the appearance of drug-resistant prion populations. We propose that prion populations are comprised of a variety of conformers, constituting 'quasi-species', from which the one replicating most efficiently in a particular environment is selected.

Abrogation of complex glycosylation by swainsonine results in strain- and cell-specific inhibition of prion replication.

Neuroblastoma-derived N2a-PK1 cells, fibroblastic LD9 cells, and CNS-derived CAD5 cells can be infected efficiently and persistently by various prion strains, as measured by the standard scrapie cell assay. Swainsonine, an inhibitor of Golgi α-mannosidase II that causes abnormal N-glycosylation, strongly inhibits infection of PK1 cells by RML, 79A and 22F, less so by 139A, and not at all by 22L prions, and it does not diminish propagation of any of these strains in LD9 or CAD5 cells. Misglycosylated PrP(C) formed in the presence of swainsonine is a good substrate for conversion to PrP(Sc), and misglycosylated PrP(Sc) is fully able to trigger infection and seed the protein misfolding cyclic amplification reaction. Distinct subclones of PK1 cells mediate swainsonine inhibition to very different degrees, implicating misglycosylation of one or more host proteins in the inhibitory process. The use of swainsonine and other glycosylation inhibitors described herein enhances the ability of the cell panel assay to differentiate between prion strains. Moreover, as shown elsewhere, the susceptibility of prions to inhibition by swainsonine in PK1 cells is a mutable trait.

Transfer of a prion strain to different hosts leads to emergence of strain variants.

Prions consist mainly of PrP(Sc), a pathogenic conformer of host-encoded PrP(C). Prion populations with distinct phenotypes but associated with PrP(Sc), having the same amino acid sequence, constitute distinct strains. Strain identity is thought to be encoded by the conformation of PrP(Sc) and to be maintained by seeded conversion. Prion strains can be distinguished by the cell panel assay, which measures their ability to infect distinct cell lines. Brain-derived 22L prions characteristically are able to infect R33 cells (i.e., are "R33 competent"), as well as PK1 cells in the presence of the inhibitor swainsonine (i.e. are "swa resistant"). Here we report that 22L prions retained their characteristic cell tropism and swa resistance when transferred from brain to R33 cells. However, when transferred from the R33 cells to PK1 cells, they gradually became R33 incompetent and swa sensitive, unless the transfer was in the presence of swa, in which case swa resistance and R33 competence were retained. PrP(Sc) associated with swa-resistant/R33-competent and swa-sensitive/R33-incompetent prions had different conformational stabilities. When cloned R33-incompetent/swa-sensitive prions were again propagated in brain, their properties gradually reverted to those of the original brain-derived 22L prions. Our results support the view that 22L prion populations are heterogeneous and that distinct prion variants are selected in different cellular environments.

Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture.

Prions are infectious proteins consisting mainly of PrP(Sc), a beta sheet-rich conformer of the normal host protein PrP(C), and occur in different strains. Strain identity is thought to be encoded by PrP(Sc) conformation. We found that biologically cloned prion populations gradually became heterogeneous by accumulating "mutants," and selective pressures resulted in the emergence of different mutants as major constituents of the evolving population. Thus, when transferred from brain to cultured cells, "cell-adapted" prions outcompeted their "brain-adapted" counterparts, and the opposite occurred when prions were returned from cells to brain. Similarly, the inhibitor swainsonine selected for a resistant substrain, whereas, in its absence, the susceptible substrain outgrew its resistant counterpart. Prions, albeit devoid of a nucleic acid genome, are thus subject to mutation and selective amplification.

Assaying prions in cell culture: the standard scrapie cell assay (SSCA) and the scrapie cell assay in end point format (SCEPA).

Prions are usually quantified by bioassays based on intracerebral inoculation of animals, which are slow, imprecise, and costly. We have developed a cell-based prion assay that is based on the isolation of cell lines highly susceptible to certain strains (Rocky Mountain Laboratory and 22L) of mouse prions and a method for identifying individual, prion-infected cells and quantifying them. In the standard scrapie cell assay (SSCA), susceptible cells are exposed to prion-containing samples for 4 days, grown to confluence, passaged two or three times, and the proportion of rPrP(Sc)-containing cells is determined with automated counting equipment. The dose response is dynamic over 2 logs of prion concentrations. The SSCA has a standard error of +/-20-30%, is as sensitive as the mouse bioassay, 10 times faster, at least 2 orders of magnitude less expensive, and it is suitable for robotization. Assays performed in a more time-consuming end point titration format extend the sensitivity and show that infectivity titers measured in tissue culture and in the mouse are similar.

Prion strain discrimination in cell culture: the cell panel assay.

Prions are thought to consist mainly or entirely of misfolded PrP, a constitutively expressed host protein. Prions associated with the same PrP sequence may occur in the form of different strains; the strain phenotype is believed to be encoded by the conformation of the PrP. Some cell lines can be persistently infected by prions and, interestingly, show preference for certain strains. We report that a cloned murine neuroblastoma cell population, N2a-PK1, is highly heterogeneous in regard to its susceptibility to RML and 22L prions. Remarkably, sibling subclones may show very different relative susceptibilities to the two strains, indicating that the responses can vary independently. We have assembled four cell lines, N2a-PK1, N2a-R33, LD9 and CAD5, which show widely different responses to prion strains RML, 22L, 301C, and Me7, into a panel that allows their discrimination in vitro within 2 weeks, using the standard scrapie cell assay (SSCA).

The stoichiometry of host PrPC glycoforms modulates the efficiency of PrPSc formation in vitro.

A central event in the formation of infectious prions is the conformational change of a host-encoded glycoprotein, PrPC, into a pathogenic isoform, PrPSc. However, the molecular requirements for efficient PrP conversion remain unknown. In this study, we employed the recently developed protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) and scrapie cell assay (SCA) techniques to study the role of N-linked glycosylation on prion formation in vitro. The results show that unglycosylated PrPC molecules are required to propagate mouse RML prions, whereas diglycosylated PrPC molecules are required to propagate hamster Sc237 prions. Furthermore, the formation of Sc237 prions is inhibited by substoichiometric levels of hamster unglycosylated PrPC molecules. Thus, interactions between different PrPC glycoforms appear to control the efficiency of prion formation in a species-specific manner.