Preclinical deposition of pathological prion protein PrP^Sc in muscles of hamsters orally exposed to scrapie
J. Clin. Invest. Achim Thomzig, et al. 113:1465 doi:10.1172/JCI21083 [Go to this article.]

Figure 1
Time course of PrP^Sc deposition in muscle tissue. Western blot detection of PrP27-30 extracted from different muscles and sciatic nerve of hamsters orally challenged with 263K scrapie and sacrificed at the following time points after infection. (A) At 100 days after infection, (B–D) 130 days after infection, (E) onset of clinical signs for scrapie (139–149 days after infection), and (F) at the terminal stage of disease (161–173 days after infection). Lanes with test samples: M1, M. biceps femoris (hindlimb); M2, M. tibialis cranialis (hindlimb); M3, M. triceps brachii (forelimb); M4, M. extensor carpi radialis (forelimb); M5, M. trapezius (shoulder); M6, M. masseter (head); M7, M. psoas major (back); T, tongue; H, heart; SN, sciatic nerve. Lanes with control samples: 1, proteinase K–digested brain homogenate from terminally ill scrapie hamsters containing 1 ∞ 10^–7 g (B and F) or 5 ∞ 10^–7 g (A, C–E) brain tissue; 2, skeletal muscle from an uninfected hamster spiked before extraction with 5 ∞ 10^–6 g (A, B, and F), 1 ∞ 10^–5 g (C and D), or 2 ∞ 10^–5 g (E) brain homogenate from terminally ill scrapie hamsters; 3, skeletal muscle from a mock-challenged hamster sacrificed at 173 days after infection (F). For each stage of incubation representative results are shown. (G) Time scale displaying the mean incubation period and the preclinical and clinical phases of incubation of hamsters orally infected with 263K scrapie. Small vertical arrows indicate time points at which animals were screened for PrP^Sc in muscles. dai, days after infection.