Species barrier as molecular basis for adaptation of synthetic prions with N-terminally truncated PrP

Mammalian prions are neurotropic pathogens formed from PrP^Sc assemblies, a misfolded variant of the host-encoded prion protein PrP^C. Multiple PrP^Sc conformations or strains self-propagate in host populations or mouse models of prion diseases, exhibiting distinct biological and biochemical phenotypes. Constrained interactions between PrP^Sc and PrP^C conformations confer species specificity and regulate cross-species transmission. The pathogenicity of fibrillar assemblies derived from bacterially expressed recombinant PrP (rPrP) has been instrumental in demonstrating the protein-only nature of prions. Yet, their ability to encode different strains and transmit between species remains poorly studied, hampering their use in exploring structure-to-strain relationships. Fibrillar assemblies from rPrP with hamster, mouse, human, and bovine primary structures were generated and tested for transmission and adaptation in tg7 transgenic mice expressing hamster PrP^C. All assemblies, except the bovine ones, were fully pathogenic on the primary passage, causing clinical disease, PrP^Sc brain deposition, and spongiform degeneration. They exhibited divergent adaptation processes and strain properties upon subsequent passage. Assemblies of hamster origin propagated without apparent need for adaptation, those of mouse origin adapted abruptly, and those of human origin required serial passages for optimal fitness. Molecular analyses revealed the presence of endogenously truncated PrP^Sc species in the resulting synthetic strains that lack the 90-140 amino acid region considered crucial for infectivity. In conclusion, rPrP assemblies provide a facile means of generating novel prion strains with adaptative/evolutive properties mimicking genuine prions. The PrP amino acid backbone is sufficient to encode different strains with specific adaptative properties, offering insights into prion transmission and strain diversity.