Sleep disturbance in clinical and preclinical scrapie-infected sheep measured by polysomnography.

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterised by neuronal loss and abnormal deposition of pathological proteins in the nervous system. Among the most common neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances are one of the most common symptoms in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, one of the main objectives in the study of TSEs is to try to establish an early diagnosis, as clinical signs do not appear until the damage to the central nervous system is very advanced, which prevents any therapeutic approach. In this paper, we provide the first description of sleep disturbance caused by classical scrapie in clinical and preclinical sheep using polysomnography compared to healthy controls. Fifteen sheep classified into three groups, clinical, preclinical and negative control, were analysed. The results show a decrease in total sleep time as the disease progresses, with significant changes between control, clinical and pre-clinical animals. The results also show an increase in sleep fragmentation in clinical animals compared to preclinical and control animals. In addition, sheep with clinical scrapie show a total loss of Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM) and alterations in Non Rapid Eyes Movement sleep (NREM) compared to control sheep, demonstrating more shallow sleep. Although further research is needed, these results suggest that prion diseases also produce sleep disturbances in animals and that polysomnography could be a diagnostic tool of interest in clinical and preclinical cases of prion diseases.

Detection of Abnormal Prion Protein by Immunohistochemistry.

Abnormal prion proteins (PrPSc) are the disease-associated isoform of cellular prion protein and diagnostic markers of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). These neurodegenerative diseases affect humans and several animal species and include scrapie, zoonotic bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), chronic wasting disease of cervids (CWD), and the newly identified camel prion disease (CPD). Diagnosis of TSEs relies on immunodetection of PrPSc by application of both immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western immunoblot methods (WB) on encephalon tissues, namely, the brainstem (obex level). IHC is a widely used method that uses primary antibodies (monoclonal or polyclonal) against antigens of interest in cells of a tissue section. The antibody-antigen binding can be visualized by a color reaction that remains localized in the area of the tissue or cell where the antibody was targeted. As such, in prion diseases, as in other fields of research, the immunohistochemistry techniques are not solely used for diagnostic purposes but also in pathogenesis studies. Such studies involve detecting the PrPSc patterns and types from those previously described to identify the new prion strains. As BSE can infect humans, it is recommended that biosafety laboratory level-3 (BSL-3) facilities and/or practices are used to handle cattle, small ruminants, and cervid samples included in the TSE surveillance. Additionally, containment and prion-dedicated equipment are recommended, whenever possible, to limit contamination. The PrPSc IHC procedure consists of a formic acid epitope-demasking step also acting as a prion inactivation measure, as formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues used in this technique remain infectious. When interpreting the results, care must be taken to distinguish non-specific immunolabeling from target labeling. For this purpose, it is important to recognize artifacts of immunolabeling obtained in known TSE-negative control animals to differentiate those from specific PrPSc immunolabeling types, which can vary between TSE strains, host species, and prnp genotype, further described herein.

Neurogranin and Neurofilament Light Chain as Preclinical Biomarkers in Scrapie.

Prion diseases are diagnosed in the symptomatic stage, when the neuronal damage is spread throughout the central nervous system (CNS). The assessment of biological features that allow the detection of asymptomatic cases is needed, and, in this context, scrapie, where pre-symptomatic infected animals can be detected through rectal biopsy, becomes a good study model. Neurogranin (Ng) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) are proteins that reflect synaptic and axonal damage and have been studied as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in different neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we evaluated Ng and NfL both at the protein and transcript levels in the CNS of preclinical and clinical scrapie-affected sheep compared with healthy controls and assessed their levels in ovine CSF. The correlation between these proteins and the main neuropathological events in prion diseases, PrPSc deposition and spongiosis, was also assessed. The results show a decrease in Ng and NfL at the protein and gene expression levels as the disease progresses, and significant changes between the control and preclinical animals. On the contrary, the CSF levels of NfL increased throughout the progression of the disease. Negative correlations between neuropathological markers of prion disease and the concentration of the studied proteins were also found. Although further research is needed, these results suggest that Ng and NfL could act as biomarkers for neurodegeneration onset and intensity in preclinical cases of scrapie.

Primary glia cells from bank vole propagate multiple rodent-adapted scrapie prions.

Since the beginning prion research has been largely dependent on animal models for deciphering the disease, drug development or prion detection and quantification. Thereby, ethical as well as cost and labour-saving aspects call for alternatives in vitro. Cell models can replace or at least complement animal studies, but their number is still limited and the application usually restricted to certain strains and host species due to often strong transmission barriers. Bank voles promise to be an exception as they or materials prepared from them are uniquely susceptible to prions from various species in vivo, in vitro and in cell-free applications. Here we present a mainly astrocyte-based primary glia cell assay from bank vole, which is infectible with scrapie strains from bank vole, mouse and hamster. Stable propagation of bank vole-adapted RML, murine 22L and RML, and hamster 263K scrapie is detectable from 20 or 30 days post exposure onwards. Thereby, the infected bank vole glia cells show similar or even faster prion propagation than likewise infected glia cells of the corresponding murine or hamster hosts. We propose that our bank vole glia cell assay could be a versatile tool for studying and comparing multiple prion strains with different species backgrounds combined in one cell assay.

Prediction of Genetic Resistance for Scrapie in Ungenotyped Sheep Using a Linear Animal Model.

Selection based on scrapie genotypes could improve the genetic resistance for scrapie in sheep. However, in practice, few animals are genotyped. The objectives were to define numerical values of scrapie resistance genotypes and adjust for their non-additive genetic effect; evaluate prediction accuracy of ungenotyped animals using linear animal model; and predict and assess selection response based on estimated breeding values (EBV) of ungenotyped animals. The scrapie resistance (SR) was defined by ranking scrapie genotypes from low (0) to high (4) resistance based on genotype risk groups and was also adjusted for non-additive genetic effect of the haplotypes. Genotypes were simulated for 1,671,890 animals from pedigree. The simulated alleles were assigned to scrapie haplotypes in two scenarios of high (SRh) and low (SRl) resistance populations. A sample of 20,000 genotyped animals were used to predict ungenotyped using animal model. Prediction accuracies for ungenotyped animals for SRh and SRl were 0.60 and 0.54, and for allele content were from 0.41 to 0.71, respectively. Response to selection on SRh and SRl increased SR by 0.52 and 0.28, and on allele content from 0.13 to 0.50, respectively. In addition, the selected animals had large proportion of homozygous for the favorable haplotypes. Thus, pre-selection prior to genotyping could reduce genotyping costs for breeding programs. Using a linear animal model to predict SR makes better use of available information for the breeding programs.

BSE can propagate in sheep co-infected or pre-infected with scrapie.

To understand the possible role of mixed-prion infections in disease presentation, the current study reports the co-infection of sheep with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie. The bovine BSE agent was inoculated subcutaneously into sheep with ARQ/ARQ or VRQ/ARQ PRNP genotypes either at the same time as subcutaneous challenge with scrapie, or three months later. In addition, VRQ/VRQ sheep naturally infected with scrapie after being born into a scrapie-affected flock were challenged subcutaneously with BSE at eight or twenty one months-of-age. Sheep were analysed by incubation period/attack rate, and western blot of brain tissue determined the presence of BSE or scrapie-like PrPSc. Serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) that can detect very low levels of BSE in the presence of an excess of scrapie agent was also applied to brain and lymphoreticular tissue. For VRQ/ARQ sheep challenged with mixed infections, scrapie-like incubation periods were produced, and no BSE agent was detected. However, whilst ARQ/ARQ sheep developed disease with BSE-like incubation periods, some animals had a dominant scrapie western blot phenotype in brain, but BSE was detected in these sheep by sPMCA. In addition, VRQ/VRQ animals challenged with BSE after natural exposure to scrapie had scrapie-like incubation periods and dominant scrapie PrPSc in brain, but one sheep had BSE detectable by sPMCA in the brain. Overall, the study demonstrates for the first time that for scrapie/BSE mixed infections, VRQ/ARQ sheep with experimental scrapie did not propagate BSE but VRQ/VRQ sheep with natural scrapie could propagate low levels of BSE, and whilst BSE readily propagated in ARQ/ARQ sheep it was not always the dominant PrPSc strain in brain tissue. Indeed, for several animals, a dominant scrapie biochemical phenotype in brain did not preclude the presence of BSE prion.

Assessment of Glial Activation Response in the Progress of Natural Scrapie after Chronic Dexamethasone Treatment.

Neuroinflammation has been correlated with the progress of neurodegeneration in many neuropathologies. Although glial cells have traditionally been considered to be protective, the concept of them as neurotoxic cells has recently emerged. Thus, a major unsolved question is the exact role of astroglia and microglia in neurodegenerative disorders. On the other hand, it is well known that glucocorticoids are the first choice to regulate inflammation and, consequently, neuroglial inflammatory activity. The objective of this study was to determine how chronic dexamethasone treatment influences the host immune response and to characterize the beneficial or detrimental role of glial cells. To date, this has not been examined using a natural neurodegenerative model of scrapie. With this aim, immunohistochemical expression of glial markers, prion protein accumulation, histopathological lesions and clinical evolution were compared with those in a control group. The results demonstrated how the complex interaction between glial populations failed to compensate for brain damage in natural conditions, emphasizing the need for using natural models. Additionally, the data showed that modulation of neuroinflammation by anti-inflammatory drugs might become a research focus as a potential therapeutic target for prion diseases, similar to that considered previously for other neurodegenerative disorders classified as prion-like diseases.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in goats: is PrP rapid test sensitivity affected by genotype?

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) surveillance in goats relies on tests initially approved for cattle, subsequently assessed for sheep, and approval extrapolated for use in "small ruminants." The current EU-approved immunodetection tests employ antibodies against various epitopes of the prion protein PrPSc, which is encoded by the host PRNP gene. The caprine PRNP gene is polymorphic, mostly at codons different from the ovine PRNP. The EU goat population is much more heterogeneous than the sheep population, with more PRNP-related polymorphisms, and with marked breed-related differences. The ability of the current tests to detect disease-specific PrPSc generated against these different genetic backgrounds is currently assumed, rather than proven. We examined whether common polymorphisms within the goat PRNP gene might have any adverse effect on the relative performance of EU-approved rapid tests. The sample panel comprised goats from the UK, Cyprus, France, and Italy, with either experimental or naturally acquired scrapie at both the preclinical and/or unknown and clinical stages of disease. Test sensitivity was significantly lower and more variable when compared using samples from animals that were preclinical or of unknown status. However, all of the rapid tests included in our study were able to correctly identify all samples from animals in the clinical stages of disease, apart from samples from animals polymorphic for serine or aspartic acid at codon 146, in which the performance of the Bio-Rad tests was profoundly affected. Our data show that some polymorphisms may adversely affect one test and not another, as well as underline the dangers of extrapolating from other species.

PAD-Beads enrichment enhances detection of PrPSc using real-time quaking-induced conversion.

OBJECTIVE: Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that naturally occurs in sheep and goats. This fatal neurodegenerative disease results from misfolding of the normal cellular prion protein (PrPC) to a pathogenic prion protein form (PrPSc). This pathogenic form, PrPSc, accumulates in the brain and lymphoid tissues. The presence of PrPSc can be detected by an in vitro conversion assay known as real-time quaking induced conversion (RT-QuIC). RT-QuIC has been used to detect PrPSc in a variety of biological tissues from brains to fluids. While this technique is both rapid and sensitive, enhancing the detection of prions would be valuable in the diagnostic laboratories. RESULTS: In this study, we assessed whether PrPSc detection sensitivity of RT-QuIC can be increased by enriching PrPSc in scrapie tissue homogenates using commercially available aggregated protein binding ligands coated magnetic beads (PAD-Beads). Coupling of RT-QuIC to PAD-Beads based cleanup allowed detection of PrPSc rapidly and without dilution of scrapie sheep brain homogenates prior to RT-QuIC. The PAD-Beads sample pretreatment step prior to RT-QuIC is a useful enhancement in the diagnosis of TSEs.

Neurofilaments in blood is a new promising preclinical biomarker for the screening of natural scrapie in sheep.

Scrapie is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of sheep and goats belonging to the group of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy or prion diseases. The EU has adopted mandatory measures for scrapie surveillance to safeguard public and animal health because it is highly contagious and might decimate all genetic susceptible animals in affected flocks. Definite diagnosis of scrapie relies on the detection of the pathological prion protein in brain tissues and there are still no blood biomarkers available for making diagnosis in living animals that can be used for the screening of sheep in scrapie-affected flocks. Neurofilament light (NfL) protein, a valid biomarker for neuronal and axonal damages, can now be easily measured in blood by the ultra-sensitive single molecule array (Simoa) technology. Recent work reported that serum NfL is increased in neurodegenerative diseases, including human prion diseases, but no data are available for scrapie or other animal prion diseases. Here, we found that the median serum NfL concentration in scrapie animals (56.2, IQR 42.2-84.8, n = 9) was more than 15 times higher (p = 0.00084) than that found in control samples (3.4, IQR 3.0-26.3, n = 11). Moreover, serum NfL concentration in scrapie sheep with clinical signs (n = 2; 75.3, 15.7 pg/ml) did not significantly (p = 0.541; t-test) differ from scrapie animals without clinical signs (n = 7; 61.0, 10.7 pg/ml). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis estimated the cut-off value of 31 pg/ml serum NfL for distinguishing scrapie-infected sheep from controls. The application of this cut-off value gives an accuracy of the test of 95% (percent error of 5.23%). These data indicate that the Simoa test for serum NfL might be a useful screening method for detecting preclinical scrapie in living sheep. Finally, the preliminary data reported here need confirmation in large and more structured studies.

Four types of scrapie in goats differentiated from each other and bovine spongiform encephalopathy by biochemical methods.

Scrapie in goats has been known since 1942, the archetype of prion diseases in which only prion protein (PrP) in misfolded state (PrPSc) acts as infectious agent with fatal consequence. Emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) with its zoonotic behaviour and detection in goats enhanced fears that its source was located in small ruminants. However, in goats knowledge on prion strain typing is limited. A European-wide study is presented concerning the biochemical phenotypes of the protease resistant fraction of PrPSc (PrPres) in over thirty brain isolates from transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) affected goats collected in seven countries. Three different scrapie forms were found: classical scrapie (CS), Nor98/atypical scrapie and one case of CH1641 scrapie. In addition, CS was found in two variants-CS-1 and CS-2 (mainly Italy)-which differed in proteolytic resistance of the PrPres N-terminus. Suitable PrPres markers for discriminating CH1641 from BSE (C-type) appeared to be glycoprofile pattern, presence of two triplets instead of one, and structural (in)stability of its core amino acid region. None of the samples exhibited BSE like features. BSE and these four scrapie types, of which CS-2 is new, can be recognized in goats with combinations of a set of nine biochemical parameters.

First case of atypical scrapie in a goat in Japan.

Atypical scrapie in goats has only been reported in European countries. The present study reports the identification of the first case of atypical scrapie in goats in Japan. The genotype of the animal was ALRQ/ALHQ at codons 136, 141, 154, and 171 in prion protein (PrP). Western blot analysis showed a multiplex proteinase K-resistant prion protein (PrP-res) band pattern with a band <15 kDa that was clearly distinguishable from the triplet PrP-res band pattern observed in classical scrapie cases. Histopathological and immunohistological examination showed mild vacuolation and fine granular to globular immunolabelling of disease-associated PrP in the dorsal horn of cervical spinal cord. Collectively, our results confirmed that this goat was affected by atypical scrapie.

Early preclinical detection of prions in the skin of prion-infected animals.

A definitive pre-mortem diagnosis of prion disease depends on brain biopsy for prion detection currently and no validated alternative preclinical diagnostic tests have been reported to date. To determine the feasibility of using skin for preclinical diagnosis, here we report ultrasensitive serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assays of skin samples from hamsters and humanized transgenic mice (Tg40h) at different time points after intracerebral inoculation with 263K and sCJDMM1 prions, respectively. sPMCA detects skin PrPSc as early as 2 weeks post inoculation (wpi) in hamsters and 4 wpi in Tg40h mice; RT-QuIC assay reveals earliest skin prion-seeding activity at 3 wpi in hamsters and 20 wpi in Tg40h mice. Unlike 263K-inoculated animals, mock-inoculated animals show detectable skin/brain PrPSc only after long cohabitation periods with scrapie-infected animals. Our study provides the proof-of-concept evidence that skin prions could be a biomarker for preclinical diagnosis of prion disease.

Evaluation and validation of an analytical approach for high-throughput metabolomic fingerprinting using direct introduction-high-resolution mass spectrometry: Applicability to classification of urine of scrapie-infected ewes.

Direct injection-mass spectrometry can be used to perform high-throughput metabolomic fingerprinting. This work aims to evaluate a global analytical workflow in terms of sample preparation (urine sample dilution), high-resolution detection (quality of generated data based on criteria such as mass measurement accuracy and detection sensitivity) and data analysis using dedicated bioinformatics tools. Investigation was performed on a large number of biological samples collected from sheep infected or not with scrapie. Direct injection-mass spectrometry approach is usually affected by matrix effects, eventually hampering detection of some relevant biomarkers. Reference compounds were spiked in biological samples to help evaluate the quality of direct injection-mass spectrometry data produced by Fourier Transform mass spectrometry. Despite the potential of high-resolution detection, some drawbacks still remain. The most critical is the presence of matrix effects, which could be minimized by optimizing the sample dilution factor. The data quality in terms of mass measurement accuracy and reproducible intensity was evaluated. Good repeatability was obtained for the chosen dilution factor (i.e., 2000). More than 150 analyses were performed in less than 16 hours using the optimized direct injection-mass spectrometry approach. Discrimination of different status of sheeps in relation to scrapie infection (i.e., scrapie-affected, preclinical scrapie or healthy) was obtained from the application of Shrinkage Discriminant Analysis to the direct injection-mass spectrometry data. The most relevant variables related to this discrimination were selected and annotated. This study demonstrated that the choice of appropriated dilution faction is indispensable for producing quality and informative direct injection-mass spectrometry data. Successful application of direct injection-mass spectrometry approach for high throughput analysis of a large number of biological samples constitutes the proof of the concept.

Low-volume goat milk transmission of classical scrapie to lambs and goat kids.

The risk of classical scrapie transmission in small ruminants is highest during the neonatal period with the placenta recognized as a significant source of infection. Milk has also been identified as a source of scrapie with sheep-to-sheep transmission occurring after neonatal consumption of as little as 1-2 liters of milk; concurrent mastitis due to small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infection may be associated with increased scrapie transmission via milk in sheep. In contrast, goat-to-sheep transmission has been documented only after prolonged consumption of >30 liters of milk. The goal of the current study was to assess transmission of scrapie to goat kids and lambs following low volume, short duration consumption of milk from infected goats. Milk from two does (female goats) with pre-clinical scrapie was fed to four goat kids (≤4.5 L each) and four lambs (~3.7 L each) beginning ~24 hours after birth. Scrapie transmission was detected in three sheep as early as 18 months post inoculation; transmission was also detected in two goats but not until postmortem analyses at 33 months post inoculation. Each milk donor goat also had naturally-acquired infection with SRLV. Different degrees of lymphohistiocytic inflammation and PrPSc accumulation were observed in mammary gland tissues of the donors, which appeared to associate with transmission of scrapie via milk. Thus, similar to the risks of milk transmission of scrapie from sheep, even limited exposure to milk from goats can pose significant risk for scrapie transmission to both goat kids and lambs.

A novel approach for scrapie-associated prion (PrPSc) detection in blood using the competitive affinity of an aggregate-specific antibody and streptavidin to PrPSc.

Scrapie is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder affecting sheep and goats, originating from exposure to disease-associated prions (PrPSc). An ante-mortem screening test that can detect native PrPSc in body fluids remains unavailable due to insufficient sensitivity of current detection methods that involve proteinase or denaturation treatments. We adopted an approach to detect PrPSc in whole blood using a simple proteinase- and denaturation-independent immunoassay, based on the competitive affinity of an aggregate-specific monoclonal antibody and streptavidin to PrPSc. First, we demonstrated the ability of native PrPSc to bind to streptavidin and the inhibition of this interaction by 15B3 antibody (P<0.05). This led to a new two-step assay that involved capturing native prions from infected blood on a solid-state matrix and detection of PrPSc aggregates by evaluating the conformation-dependent conjugate catalytic activity ratio in samples against a pre-determined threshold. This test showed capacity for detecting scrapie prions in 500µl of sheep whole blood spiked with scrapie brain homogenate containing approximately 5ng of total brain protein, and estimated to have 500fg of PrPSc. The test also discriminated between blood samples from scrapie-negative (6 sheep, 4 goats) and scrapie-infected animals (3 experimentally infected sheep, 7 naturally infected goats). Collectively, with the proposed high-throughput sample-processing platform, these initial studies provide insights into the development of a large-scale screening test for the routine diagnosis of scrapie.

Atypical scrapie in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Since its initial detection in Norway in 1998, atypical scrapie ('atypical/Nor98 scrapie') has been reported in sheep in the majority of European countries (including in regions free of classical scrapie) and in the Falkland Islands, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. CASE SERIES: The diagnosis in Australia of atypical scrapie in four Merino and one Merino-cross sheep showing clinical signs of neurological disease was based on the detection of grey matter neuropil vacuolation (spongiform change) in the brain (particularly in the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex) and associated abnormal prion protein (PrPSc ) deposition in both grey and white matter. Changes were minimal in the caudal brainstem, the predilection site for lesions of classical scrapie. CONCLUSION: The distinctive lesion profile of atypical scrapie in these five sheep highlights the diagnostic importance of routine histological evaluation of the cerebellum for evidence of neuropil vacuolation and associated PrPSc deposition in adult sheep with suspected neurological disease.

Factors That Improve RT-QuIC Detection of Prion Seeding Activity.

Rapid and sensitive detection of prions is important in managing prion diseases. The real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay for prion seeding activity has been applied to many prion diseases and provides for specific antemortem diagnostic testing. We evaluated RT-QuIC's long-term consistency and varied multiple reaction parameters. Repeated assays of a single scrapie sample using multiple plate readers and recombinant prion protein (rPrP(Sen)) substrates gave comparable results. N-terminal truncated hamster rPrP(Sen) (residues 90-231) hastened both prion-seeded and prion-independent reactions but maintained a clear kinetic distinction between the two. Raising temperatures or shaking speeds accelerated RT-QuIC reactions without compromising specificity. When applied to nasal brushings from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease patients, higher temperatures accelerated RT-QuIC kinetics, and the use of hamster rPrP(Sen) (90-231) strengthened RT-QuIC responses. Elongation of shaking periods reduced scrapie-seeded reaction times, but continuous shaking promoted false-positive reactions. Furthermore, pH 7.4 provided for more rapid RT-QuIC reactions than more acidic pHs. Additionally, we show that small variations in the amount of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) significantly impacted the assay. Finally, RT-QuIC performed in multiplate thermoshakers followed by fluorescence readings in separate plate readers enhanced assay throughput economically. Collectively, these results demonstrate improved speed, efficacy and practicality of RT-QuIC assays and highlight variables to be optimized for future applications.

The Priority position paper: Protecting Europe's food chain from prions.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) created a global European crisis in the 1980s and 90s, with very serious health and economic implications. Classical BSE now appears to be under control, to a great extent as a result of a global research effort that identified the sources of prions in meat and bone meal (MBM) and developed new animal-testing tools that guided policy. Priority ( www.prionpriority.eu ) was a European Union (EU) Framework Program 7 (FP7)-funded project through which 21 European research institutions and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) joined efforts between 2009 and 2014, to conduct coordinated basic and applied research on prions and prion diseases. At the end of the project, the Priority consortium drafted a position paper ( www.prionpriority.eu/Priority position paper) with its main conclusions. In the present opinion paper, we summarize these conclusions. With respect to the issue of re-introducing ruminant protein into the feed-chain, our opinion is that sustaining an absolute ban on feeding ruminant protein to ruminants is essential. In particular, the spread and impact of non-classical forms of scrapie and BSE in ruminants is not fully understood and the risks cannot be estimated. Atypical prion agents will probably continue to represent the dominant form of prion diseases in the near future in Europe. Atypical L-type BSE has clear zoonotic potential, as demonstrated in experimental models. Similarly, there are now data indicating that the atypical scrapie agent can cross various species barriers. More epidemiological data from large cohorts are necessary to reach any conclusion on the impact of its transmissibility on public health. Re-evaluations of safety precautions may become necessary depending on the outcome of these studies. Intensified searching for molecular determinants of the species barrier is recommended, since this barrier is key for important policy areas and risk assessment. Understanding the structural basis for strains and the basis for adaptation of a strain to a new host will require continued fundamental research, also needed to understand mechanisms of prion transmission, replication and how they cause nervous system dysfunction and death. Early detection of prion infection, ideally at a preclinical stage, also remains crucial for development of effective treatment strategies.

Review: A review on classical and atypical scrapie in caprine: Prion protein gene polymorphisms and their role in the disease.

Scrapie is a naturally occurring transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in sheep and goat. It has been known for ~250 years and is characterised by the accumulation of an abnormal isoform of a host-encoded prion protein that leads to progressive neurodegeneration and death. Scrapie is recognised in two forms, classical and atypical scrapie. The susceptibility to both types of scrapie is influenced by polymorphisms of the prion protein gene (PRNP). Sheep susceptibility or resistance to classical scrapie is strongly regulated by the polymorphisms at codons 136, 154 and 171 of the PRNP. The genetic role in atypical scrapie in sheep has been defined by polymorphisms at codons 141, 154 and 171, which are associated with different degrees of risk in the occurrence of the ovine disease. Progress has been achieved in the prevention of scrapie in sheep due to efficient genetic breeding programmes based on eradication and control of the disease. In Europe, the success of these programmes has been verified by applying eradication and genetic selection plans. In general terms, the ovine selection plans aim to eliminate and reduce the susceptible allele and to enrich the resistant allele ARR. During outbreaks all susceptible animals are slaughtered, only ARR/ARR resistant rams and sheep and semi-resistant females are preserved. In the occurrence of scrapie positive goats a complete cull of the flock (stamping out) is performed with great economic loss and severe risk of extinction for the endangered breeds. The ability to select scrapie-resistant animals allows to define new breeding strategies aimed to boost genetic progress while reducing costs during scrapie outbreaks. Allelic variants of PRNP can be protective for caprine scrapie, and the knowledge of their distribution in goats has become very important. Over the past few years, the integration of genetic information on goat populations could be used to make selection decisions, commonly referred to as genetic selection. The objective of this review was to summarise the main findings of polymorphisms of the caprine prion protein (PrP) gene and to discuss the possible application of goat breeding schemes integrating genetic selection, with their relative advantages and limitations.