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Updated: Aug 18, 2026
Monitoring Immune Cells Trafficking Fluorescent Prion Rods Hours after Intraperitoneal Infection
Published on: November 20, 2010
Accumulation of abnormal prion protein in mice infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease via intraperitoneal route: a
T Muramoto1, T Kitamoto, J Tateishi
1Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University 60, Fukuoka, Japan.
Abstract:
We immunohistochemically studied the location of abnormal prion protein in the central nervous system and visceral organs at the clinical and preclinical stages of mice infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease via intraperitoneal route. Abnormal prion protein was diffusely distributed in the central nervous system. The sequential study showed that its stainings were first detected 120 days after inoculation, were found in all mice after 180 days, and were the most intense and widespread after 270 days. There was no restricted involvement at the early stages nor rostrally dominant distribution of the stainings that had been found in mice infected via intracerebral route. Abnormal prion protein was also located in the follicular dendritic cells in the spleen, lymph nodes, intestinal Peyer's patch, and thymus. Its stainings were first detected in the spleen, lymph nodes, and Peyer's patch 14 or 30 days after inoculation. In the thymus, however, the stainings were first detected after 210 days in the germinal centers formed in the medulla.
Insights
Abnormal prion protein spreads throughout the central nervous system and lymphoid tissues in mice with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) following intraperitoneal infection. Early detection occurs in peripheral organs before widespread central nervous system involvement.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Immunology
- Pathology
Background:
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a fatal neurodegenerative prion disease.
- Understanding prion protein (PrP) distribution is crucial for diagnosing and treating CJD.
- The intraperitoneal (IP) route of infection offers a different model for studying prion pathogenesis compared to intracerebral (IC) inoculation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) in the central nervous system (CNS) and visceral organs of mice infected with CJD via the IP route.
- To compare PrPSc distribution patterns between IP and IC infection models.
- To determine the earliest detection times and progression of PrPSc accumulation in different tissues.
Main Methods:
- Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect PrPSc.
- Mice were infected with CJD via the IP route.
- Samples from the CNS and various visceral organs (spleen, lymph nodes, Peyer's patch, thymus) were analyzed at different time points post-inoculation.
Main Results:
- Abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) showed diffuse distribution in the CNS, with initial staining detected at 120 days post-inoculation, becoming widespread by 180 days and most intense by 270 days.
- Unlike IC infection, IP infection did not show restricted or rostrally dominant PrPSc distribution in the early stages.
- PrPSc was detected in follicular dendritic cells of the spleen, lymph nodes, and Peyer's patch as early as 14-30 days post-inoculation, and in the thymus at 210 days.
Conclusions:
- Intraperitoneal CJD infection leads to a diffuse CNS distribution of PrPSc, distinct from the pattern observed in intracerebral infections.
- Peripheral lymphoid tissues, particularly spleen, lymph nodes, and Peyer's patch, serve as early sites for PrPSc accumulation following IP inoculation.
- The thymus shows later involvement, with PrPSc detected in germinal centers of the medulla.
