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Biomedical subjects

M E Bruce

Publications and source records attributed to M E Bruce.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

The disease characteristics of different strains of scrapie in Sinc congenic mouse lines: implications for the nature of the agent and host control of pathogenesis.

Mouse lines which are congenic for Sinc, the major gene controlling scrapie incubation period, have been produced by selective breeding from the inbred C57BL(Sincs7) and VM(Sincp7) strains; the s7 allele of Sinc has been introduced into a VM background by 18 serial backcrosses, at each generation selecting on the basis of the incubation period with the ME7 scrapie strain. The characteristics of the disease produced by seven scrapie strains have been compared in Sincs7 and Sincp7 congenic mice and in the F1 cross between them. As previously found in non-congenic mice, each scrapie strain has a characteristic, precisely reproducible incubation period pattern in the three Sinc genotypes. The Sinc gene controls the incubation period for all scrapie strains tested but the direction of allelic action and the apparent dominance pattern differs between scrapie strains. Comparison with non-congenic mice shows that other genes also have a minor effect on incubation period. The distribution of vacuolar degeneration in the brain depends mainly on the scrapie strain but is also influenced by Sinc and other unspecified mouse genes. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis has already shown that the close linkage between Sinc and the gene encoding PrP has been maintained in the Sinc congenic lines, strengthening the possibility that PrP is the Sinc gene product. The present study confirms that scrapie strains carry information which is independent of the host but nevertheless suggests that host PrP protein interacts with this information to regulate the progression of the disease.

Alleles↗
PubMed1989

Precise targeting of the pathology of the sialoglycoprotein, PrP, and vacuolar degeneration in mouse scrapie.

Widespread immunostaining of PrP protein was demonstrated in scrapie mouse brain, distributed diffusely in the neuropil and focally in amyloid plaques, microglia and 2-5 microns structures resembling neuronal processes. With the 87V scrapie strain, which produces focal vacuolation in particular areas, PrP pathology was precisely targeted to these same areas, predating vacuolar degeneration by at least several weeks. On the other hand, both vacuolar and PrP changes were widely distributed throughout the brain with the ME7 scrapie strain. It is likely that the precise targeting of PrP pathology, followed by vacuolar degeneration, reflects an underlying targeting and localised replication of infectious agent.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

The molecular pathology of scrapie and the biological basis of lesion targeting.

Strains of scrapie virus can only be distinguished from the incubation period and neuropathology of the disease they induce in mice of different Sinc genotypes. There are two main aspects of the neuropathology: a spongiosis or degenerative vacuolation associated with the replication of virus, and cerebral amyloid plaques. The relationship between these two is unclear - they can occupy topographically quite different centres in the CNS and the timing of their occurrence is different. Surprisingly this is also the case using the very precise targeting provided by the intraocular infection route. Here the earliest spongiosis is very localised into the primary and secondary projections from the retina, but plaques, when they occur, occupy quite different sites. The relationship between plaques and spongy degeneration is probably a neuroanatomical one, similar to that suggested between plaques and tangle-bearing neurons in Alzheimer's disease. A third aspect of the pathology is the occurrence of SAF in negative-stained E.M. preparations, formed from the aggregation of a sialoglycoprotein called PrP or SAF-protein. Immunolabelling of plaques with antisera to SAF protein shows as yet that there is no antigenic variation in the protein prepared from different scrapie models with different strains of the virus based on available reagents. Strain variation is only recognised on biological criteria; as yet, there are no independent molecular markers or in vitro tests which can account for the biological variation.

Amyloidosis↗
PubMed1988

Altered clinical and histological features of male MM mouse pyelonephritis associated with a change in its microbiology.

Radical changes in the clinical, microbiological and histological features of spontaneous pyelonephritis in MM male mice occurred when they were transferred to a new environment after Caesarean derivation. Although the incidence of pyelonephritis remained the same, the survival age was increased. The renal histology indicated a shift to a more chronic form of pyelonephritis with renal amyloidosis as a common feature. At autopsy much more renal scarring was seen, resulting in the 'shrunken' kidney typical of chronic pyelonephritis. Renal lymphocytic accumulations were commonly found in MM mice, but they were also seen frequently in C57BL mice and in germfree stocks of both strains: no association was found between these lesions and pyelonephritis.

Amyloidosis↗
PubMed1987

No evidence for involvement of plasma proteins or blood-borne cells in amyloid plaque formation in scrapie-affected mice. An immunohistoperoxidase study.

The present study was designed to investigate blood-brain permeability and the possible involvement of plasma proteins and blood-borne cells in amyloid plaque formation in scrapie-affected mice. No abnormal extravasation of intravenously injected horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was found and with immunocytochemical techniques no plasma proteins were detected in neuropil from scrapie-affected mice. In contrast to an earlier report, these findings suggest that the blood-brain barrier is essentially intact in scrapie-affected mice. Using immunohistochemical and enzyme histochemical methods no cells belonging to the monocyte-macrophage lineage were detected in association with amyloid plaques. Thus, by these methods there was no evidence that plasma proteins or blood-borne cells are involved in amyloid plaque formation in scrapie-affected mice. However, astrocytes were consistently found to be associated with amyloid plaques at all stages of their development.

Amyloid↗
PubMed1987

Biological evidence that scrapie agent has an independent genome.

There are many distinct strains of scrapie agent, identified by their relative incubation periods and quantitative and qualitative neuropathological properties in inbred mice of particular genotypes. When serially passaged under specified conditions of mouse strain, route of infection and dose of infectivity these properties are stable. However, they may change in a predictable manner if the passage strategy is altered. The scrapie strain 87A shows what has previously been defined as Class III stability; it is stable when passaged at low dose in C57BL mice, but often suddenly changes its properties in the course of a single passage if high doses are used, always resulting in the same new strain. The latter, designated 7D, has shorter incubation periods and more extensive pathology than 87A, properties which are subsequently stable on serial passage even at high dose. This phenomenon has been seen repeatedly using scrapie isolates from six different natural cases in five different breeds of sheep. These isolates are closely similar in all their properties, showing them to be independent isolations of the 87A strain; there have been no isolations of 87A in which the phenomenon did not occur. On the other hand, none of the many other scrapie strains used in the same laboratory have shown this change. 87A brain samples consistently behave as if they contain 87A together with a smaller amount of 7D. This is so even after 87A has previously been passaged at high dilution, well beyond the limiting dilution for 7D, a procedure which would eliminate any minor agent strain originally present in the isolate. Therefore it is highly likely that the 7D in tissues of mice infected with 87A is generated de novo at each passage by mutational change from 87A during the incubation period. The established fact that many different strains exist and the considerable evidence that mutation can occur lead to the conclusion that scrapie agent has its own independently replicating genome.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Genetic control of amyloid plaque production and incubation period in scrapie-infected mice.

The extent of amyloid plaque production was investigated in three inbred mouse strains carrying the p7 allele of the scrapie incubation (Sinc) gene (VM, IM and MB). With either ME7 or 87V scrapie, many more plaques were seen in the MB strain than in VM or IM mice. A backcrossing experiment using 87V suggested the involvement of more than one gene. Within this backcrossing experiment there was a positive correlation between mean plaque count and mean incubation period for the various strains and crosses. Also male mice tended to have higher plaque counts and longer incubation periods than female mice of the same genotype. These results suggest that some of the genes controlling minor variation in the incubation period also influence plaque production. This is consistent with previous evidence that the number of amyloid plaques depends, to some extent, on the duration of agent replication within the brain. This study has also identified a high plaque model (MB mice infected with 87V) for future investigation of the nature of the amyloid protein.

Amyloid↗
PubMed1985

Agent replication dynamics in a long incubation period model of mouse scrapie.

The dynamics of scrapie agent replication in brain and spleen following intracerebral or intraperitoneal infection were investigated in a model with particularly long incubation periods [IM mice (Sincp7) infected with 87V scrapie]. In contrast to other mouse scrapie models previously investigated, there was no delay in onset of replication ('zero phase') in spleen using either route of infection, For both routes infectivity levels reached a plateau in spleen, which was maintained for at least 250 days in intraperitoneally infected mice. An infectivity plateau was also apparent in brain following intracerebral infection, suggesting that there may be constraints on agent replication in brain during the later part of the incubation period. In addition, the efficiency of the intraperitoneal route to produce disease was found to be particularly low for this model.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Infectious etiology of neuritic (senile) plaques in mice.

Brains of inbred female VM mice infected with scrapie agent were studied with the use of the Bodian silver impregnation method and by electron microscopy. In brains affected with scrapie, after an incubation period of between 587 and 655 days, numerous primitive, classical, and amyloid plaques were found. No plaques of any type were seen in the control mice.

Amyloid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

PrP in pathology and pathogenesis in scrapie-infected mice.

PrP accumulation in the brains of mice infected with scrapie takes several different forms: amyloid plaques, widespread accumulation in neuropile, and perineuronal deposits. PrP is also sometimes detected within microglia and in or around astrocytes. There are dramatic and reproducible differences between scrapie strains in the relative prominence of these changes and their distribution in the brain. Depending on the scrapie strain, PrP pathology is targeted precisely to particular brain areas, often showing a clear association with identifiable groups of neurons. These results suggest that PrP changes are primarily associated with neurons, and that different scrapie strains recognize and selectively replicate in different populations of neurons. Immunostaining at the ultrastructural level demonstrates an association of PrP with neurite plasmalemma, around amyloid plaques, and in areas of widespread neuropile and perineuronal accumulation. It is probable that PrP is encoded by the Sinc gene, which controls the incubation period of scrapie in mice. Studies using the intraocular infection route show that the Sinc gene controls the onset rather than the rate of replication, suggesting that PrP may be involved in cell-to-cell spread of infection. The accumulation of PrP at the surface of neurons is consistent with such a role.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Murine scrapie infection causes an abnormal germinal centre reaction in the spleen.

Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) of the lymphoreticular system play a role in the peripheral replication of prion proteins in some transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including experimental murine scrapie models. Disease-specific PrP (PrPd) accumulation occurs in association with the plasmalemma and extracellular space around FDC dendrites, but no specific immunological response has yet been reported in animals affected by TSEs. In the present study, morphology (light microscopical and ultrastructural) of secondary lymphoid follicles of the spleen were examined in mice infected with the ME7 strain of scrapie and in uninfected control mice, with or without immunological stimulation with sheep red blood cells (SRBCs), at 70 days post-inoculation or at the terminal stage of disease (268 days). Scrapie infection was associated with hypertrophy of FDC dendrites, increased retention of electron-dense material at the FDC plasma membrane, and increased maturation and numbers of B lymphocytes within secondary follicles. FDC hypertrophy was particularly conspicuous in immune-stimulated ME7-infected mice. The electron-dense material was associated with PrP Napoli accumulation, as determined by immunogold labelling. We hypothesize that immune system changes are associated with increased immune complex trapping by hypertrophic FDCs expressing PrP Napoli molecules at the plasmalemma of dendrites, and that this process is exaggerated by immune system stimulation. Contrary to previous dogma, these results show that a pathological response within the immune system follows scrapie infection.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of route of infection on the frequency and distribution of cerebral amyloid plaques in scrapie mice.

Cerebral amyloid plaques are a conspicuous pathological feature in mice infected with certain strains of scrapie. The origin of the amyloid protein in these plaques, whether it is locally or systemically synthesized, and the mechanisms leading to its deposition are not known. The frequency of plaques and their distribution in the brain are greatly influenced by the route of injection of the scrapie inoculum. Intracerebral injection consistently results in greater numbers of plaques than are obtained if the same inoculum is introduced peripherally. Following intracerebral injection, plaques are commonly seen in areas close to the lateral ventricles, for example the corpus callosum and hippocampus, whereas they are absent from these areas with peripheral routes. Furthermore, when left- and right- sided intracerebral injections are compared, plaques are more frequent on the side of injection. These results suggest that the distribution of amyloid plaques is influenced either by the localization of some component of the inoculum or by traumatic damage at injection. The most plausible explanation is that amyloid deposition is associated with local concentrations of scrapie infectivity and that the amyloid protein originates in the brain.

Amyloidosis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of age on cerebral amyloid plaques in murine scrapie.

The frequency of cerebral amyloid plaques in murine scrapie was not influenced by the age of the mouse at injection in a study using several combinations of agent strain and mouse strain. In addition amyloid plaques were not seen in a series of extremely old uninfected mice.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cerebrovascular amyloidosis in scrapie-affected sheep.

Cerebrovascular amyloidosis (CA) was found in the cerebral and cerebellar cortices in 11 of 20 sheep, of six different breeds, with naturally-occurring scrapie. The occurrence of the lesion did not appear to be influenced by the age of the sheep. This was not seen in 20 brains from age- and breed-matched sheep with other conditions. Furthermore, it was not found in 20 sheep experimentally infected with scrapie by sub-cutaneous inoculation, or in 22 sheep with natural scrapie in a closed breeding group, but it was present at low frequency in a production flock, closed apart from the introduction of rams. It is concluded that this lesion is strongly associated with sheep scrapie disease, but that its occurrence varies between different groups of scrapie sheep. A major source of this variation is likely to be the strain of the agent, though other factors may be involved as has been shown for cerebral amyloidosis in experimental mouse scrapie.

Amyloidosis↗