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Updated: Aug 26, 2025
Assessing Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Species Barriers with an In Vitro Prion Protein Conversion Assay
Published on: March 10, 2015
Effect of inoculation with prion dilutions within the dynamic range of ELISA absorbance on prion incubation period
Eric D Cassmann1, Quazetta L Brown2,3, Alexis J Frese2,3
1United States Department of Agriculture, Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, Ames, IA, USA. eric.cassmann@usda.gov.
Abstract:
This study examines the effect of various infectious prion titers within the dynamic range as measured by ELISA on incubation period. We inoculated ovinized transgenic mice with seven decreasing dilutions of a fast-incubating scrapie strain. The highest inoculum group was a 20% w/v brain homogenate from a sheep with scrapie. The subsequent six inoculum dilutions ranged from the highest ELISA optical density reading of 4.000 to a dilution where scrapie prions were not detectable by ELISA. Multiple comparison analysis demonstrated variation in the incubation periods between some inoculum groups. Incubation periods were similar between inoculum groups unless their optical density differed by more than ≈2 units of absorbance. These data will inform the interpretation of future studies that compare incubation periods in experimentally inoculated animals for TSE research.
