Prokaryotic SPHINX replication sequences are conserved in mammalian brain and participate in neurodegeneration

A new class of viral mammalian Slow Progressive Hidden INfections of variable (X) latency ("SPHINX") DNAs, represented by the 1.8 and 2.4 kb nuclease-protected circular elements, were discovered in highly infectious cytoplasmic particles isolated from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and scrapie samples. These DNAs contained replication initiation sequences (REPs) with approximately 70% homology to those of environmental Acinetobacter phage. Antibodies against REP peptides from the 1.8 kb DNA highlighted a 41 kDa protein (spx) on Western blots, and in situ studies previously revealed its peripheral tissue expression, for example, in pancreatic islet cells, keratinocytes, kidney tubules, and oocytes but not pancreatic exocrine cells, alveoli, and striated muscle. To determine if spx concentrated in specific neurons and synapses, and also maintained a conserved pattern of architectural organization in mammalian brains, we evaluated mouse, rat, hamster, guinea pig (GP), and human samples. Most outstanding was the cross-species concentration of spx in huge excitatory synapses of mossy fibers and small internal granule neuron synapses, the only excitatory neuron within the cerebellum. Spx also localized to excitatory glutamate type synapses in the hippocampus, and both cerebellar and hippocampal synaptic spx was demonstrable ultrastructurally. Studies of two well-characterized models of sporadic CJD (sCJD) revealed novel spx pathology. Vacuolar loss of cerebellar synaptic complexes, thinning of the internal granule cell layer, and fibrillar spx accumulations within Purkinje neurons were prominent in sCJD GP brains. In rats, comparable spx fibrillar changes appeared in hippocampal pyramidal neurons, and they preceded prion protein misfolding. Hence, spx is an integral player in progressive neurodegeneration. The evolutionary origin, spread, and neuropathology of SPHINX 1.8 REP sequences opens another unanticipated chapter for mammalian symbiotic interactions with environmental microbes.