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@INPROCEEDINGS{Kaczmarczyk:145575,
author = {Kaczmarczyk, Lech and Jackson, Walker Scot},
title = {{C}aribou {P}rnp polymorphism distribution in {C}anada and
its impact on {CWD} pathogenesis},
journal = {Prion},
volume = {13},
issn = {1933-6896},
reportid = {DZNE-2020-00908},
pages = {28 - 29},
year = {2019},
abstract = {Wild reindeer in Norway were recently diagnosed withchronic
wasting disease (CWD) [1]. Prions from CWD-infected deer
were also transmissible to other reindeer inexperimental
settings [2,3]. Although CWD has not yetbeen reported in
wild reindeer (caribou) in Canada, thesestudies show that
they are at risk of infection. The wild-typereindeer,
homozygous for serine at prion protein (PrP)residue 138
(138SS), developed clinical disease upon oralinoculation.
Animals carrying at least one asparagine allele(138SN,
138NN) accumulated prions only in the periphery.However,
both genotypes were susceptible to intracerebralprion
inoculation [2,3]. Fallow deer are wild-type 138NNand are
resistant to peripheral but not intracerebral prioninfection
[4]. Thus, we hypothesize that the138N allele,present in
caribou herds in Alberta [5], alters CWD patho-genesis by
limiting prion transport from the periphery tothe CNS. Our
aim is to elucidate the mechanisms involvedin this
process.We extracted DNA from ±800 caribou, sequenced
thePrnpopen reading frame and determined the 138N
alleleprevalence in Canadian caribou populations.
Resultsshow that the 138N allele was highly prevalent in
theChinchaga woodland caribou population in BC $(64\%).$
Itwas also higher in barren-ground $(37\%)$ than in
otherwoodland caribou populations $(26\%).$ To analyse
howthe 138N allele affects CWD pathogenesis, we
generatedknock-in (KI) mice where the mouse PrP is replaced
bywild-type 138SS or 138NN cervid PrP. The KIs wereobtained
by injecting CRISPR/Cas9-edited C57BL6embryonic stem cells
(Bruce4) into wild-type blastocysts,generating chimeras, and
breeding progeny to homozyg-osity in a C57BL6 background.
PrP expression was deter-mined using western blotting and
qPCR. Correct PrPpost-translational modifications were
confirmed byPNGase-F and Endo-H digestion. We will inoculate
ourKIs with CWD-positive material from the
correspondingreindeer genotypes [1,2]. The CWD-infected
reindeermaterial was characterized by real-time
quaking-inducedconversion (RT-QuIC) and its transmissibility
to trans-genic mice overexpressing elk PrP (TgElk). Attack
rate inthe TgElks were almost $100\%,$ except for those
inoculatedwith 138SN lymph node material. Western blotting
con-firmed the presence of proteinase-K resistant PrP in
allterminally ill mice. Our goal is to analyse the
susceptibilityof KIs carrying the 138N allele to
intracerebral and per-ipheral prion infection. We will also
assess the efficiencyof prion transport from the periphery
to the CNS in intraperitoneally inoculated KIs. Prion strain
propagationwithin a host is highly dependent on its PrP
genotype.This study will provide insight into how the 138N
PrPspecifically influences CWD propagation in caribou.},
month = {May},
date = {2019-05-21},
organization = {PRION 2019, Edmonton (Canada), 21 May
2019 - 24 May 2019},
cin = {AG Jackson},
ddc = {570},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)1013019},
pnm = {342 - Disease Mechanisms and Model Systems (POF3-342)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF3-342},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)1 / PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/145575},
}