This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mulcahy, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Bessen, R. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mulcahy, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Bessen, R. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, July 2004, p. 6792-6798, Vol. 78, No. 13
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.13.6792-6798.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Prion Infection of Skeletal Muscle Cells and Papillae in the Tongue

Ellyn R. Mulcahy,1,{dagger} Jason C. Bartz,1 Anthony E. Kincaid,2 and Richard A. Bessen3*

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology,1 Department of Physical Therapy, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska 68178,2 Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology, Montana State University Bozeman, Montana 597173

Received 29 September 2003/ Accepted 3 March 2004

The presence of the prion agent in skeletal muscle is thought to be due to the infection of nerve fibers located within the muscle. We report here that the pathological isoform of the prion protein, PrPSc, accumulates within skeletal muscle cells, in addition to axons, in the tongue of hamsters following intralingual and intracerebral inoculation of the HY strain of the transmissible mink encephalopathy agent. Localization of PrPSc to the neuromuscular junction suggests that this synapse is a site for prion agent spread between motor axon terminals and muscle cells. Following intracerebral inoculation, the majority of PrPSc in the tongue was found in the lamina propria, where it was associated with sensory nerve fibers in the core of the lingual papillae. PrPSc staining was also identified in the stratified squamous epithelium of the lingual mucosa. These findings indicate that prion infection of skeletal muscle cells and the epithelial layer in the tongue can be established following the spread of the prion agent from nerve terminals and/or axons that innervate the tongue. Our data suggest that ingestion of meat products containing prion-infected tongue could result in human exposure to the prion agent, while sloughing of prion-infected epithelial cells at the mucosal surface of the tongue could be a mechanism for prion agent shedding and subsequent prion transmission in animals.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology, P.O. Box 173610, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717. Phone: (406) 994-1563. Fax: (406) 994-4303. E-mail: rbessen{at}montana.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160.

Journal of Virology, July 2004, p. 6792-6798, Vol. 78, No. 13
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.13.6792-6798.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bessen, R. A., Martinka, S., Kelly, J., Gonzalez, D. (2009). Role of the Lymphoreticular System in Prion Neuroinvasion from the Oral and Nasal Mucosa. J. Virol. 83: 6435-6445 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Walker, J.T., Dickinson, J., Sutton, J.M., Marsh, P.D., Raven, N.D.H. (2008). Implications for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in Dentistry: a Review of Current Knowledge. JDR 87: 511-519 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • VerCauteren, K. C., Burke, P. W., Phillips, G. E., Fischer, J. W., Seward, N. W., Wunder, B. A., Lavelle, M. J. (2007). Elk Use of Wallows and Potential Chronic Wasting Disease Transmission. J Wildl Dis 43: 784-788 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hamir, A. N., Miller, J. M., Kunkle, R. A., Hall, S. M., Richt, J. A. (2007). Susceptibility of Cattle to First-passage Intracerebral Inoculation with Chronic Wasting Disease Agent from White-tailed Deer. Vet Pathol 44: 487-493 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dlakic, W. M., Grigg, E., Bessen, R. A. (2007). Prion Infection of Muscle Cells In Vitro. J. Virol. 81: 4615-4624 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jewell, J. E., Brown, J., Kreeger, T., Williams, E. S. (2006). Prion protein in cardiac muscle of elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) infected with chronic wasting disease.. J. Gen. Virol. 87: 3443-3450 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • DeJoia, C., Moreaux, B., O'Connell, K., Bessen, R. A. (2006). Prion Infection of Oral and Nasal Mucosa. J. Virol. 80: 4546-4556 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Thomzig, A., Cardone, F., Kruger, D., Pocchiari, M., Brown, P., Beekes, M. (2006). Pathological prion protein in muscles of hamsters and mice infected with rodent-adapted BSE or vCJD. J. Gen. Virol. 87: 251-254 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Herzog, C., Riviere, J., Lescoutra-Etchegaray, N., Charbonnier, A., Leblanc, V., Sales, N., Deslys, J.-P., Lasmezas, C. I. (2005). PrPTSE Distribution in a Primate Model of Variant, Sporadic, and Iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. J. Virol. 79: 14339-14345 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bartz, J. C., DeJoia, C., Tucker, T., Kincaid, A. E., Bessen, R. A. (2005). Extraneural Prion Neuroinvasion without Lymphoreticular System Infection. J. Virol. 79: 11858-11863 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Williams, E. S. (2005). Chronic Wasting Disease. Vet Pathol 42: 530-549 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Novakofski, J., Brewer, M. S., Mateus-Pinilla, N., Killefer, J., McCusker, R. H. (2005). Prion biology relevant to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. J ANIM SCI 83: 1455-1476 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Casalone, C., Corona, C., Crescio, M. I., Martucci, F., Mazza, M., Ru, G., Bozzetta, E., Acutis, P. L., Caramelli, M. (2005). Pathological Prion Protein in the Tongues of Sheep Infected with Naturally Occurring Scrapie. J. Virol. 79: 5847-5849 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»