Abstract
Prions enter the environment from infected hosts, bind to a wide range of soil and soil minerals, and remain highly infectious. Environmental sources of prions almost certainly contribute to the transmission of chronic wasting disease in cervids and scrapie in sheep and goats. While much is known about the introduction of prions into the environment and their interaction with soil, relatively little is known about prion degradation and inactivation by natural environmental processes. In this study, we examined the effect of repeated cycles of drying and wetting on prion fitness and determined that 10 cycles of repeated drying and wetting could reduce PrPSc abundance, PMCA amplification efficiency and extend the incubation period of disease. Importantly, prions bound to soil were more susceptible to inactivation by repeated cycles of drying and wetting compared to unbound prions, a result which may be due to conformational changes in soil-bound PrPSc or consolidation of the bonding between PrPSc and soil. This novel finding demonstrates that naturally-occurring environmental process can degrade prions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e1004638 |
| Journal | PLoS Pathogens |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Microbiology
- Parasitology
- Virology
- Immunology
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Cite this
Mitigation of Prion Infectivity and Conversion Capacity by a Simulated Natural Process—Repeated Cycles of Drying and Wetting. / Yuan, Qi; Eckland, Thomas; Telling, Glenn; Bartz, Jason C.; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon.
In: PLoS Pathogens, Vol. 11, No. 2, e1004638, 2015.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Mitigation of Prion Infectivity and Conversion Capacity by a Simulated Natural Process—Repeated Cycles of Drying and Wetting
AU - Yuan, Qi
AU - Eckland, Thomas
AU - Telling, Glenn
AU - Bartz, Jason C.
AU - Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Prions enter the environment from infected hosts, bind to a wide range of soil and soil minerals, and remain highly infectious. Environmental sources of prions almost certainly contribute to the transmission of chronic wasting disease in cervids and scrapie in sheep and goats. While much is known about the introduction of prions into the environment and their interaction with soil, relatively little is known about prion degradation and inactivation by natural environmental processes. In this study, we examined the effect of repeated cycles of drying and wetting on prion fitness and determined that 10 cycles of repeated drying and wetting could reduce PrPSc abundance, PMCA amplification efficiency and extend the incubation period of disease. Importantly, prions bound to soil were more susceptible to inactivation by repeated cycles of drying and wetting compared to unbound prions, a result which may be due to conformational changes in soil-bound PrPSc or consolidation of the bonding between PrPSc and soil. This novel finding demonstrates that naturally-occurring environmental process can degrade prions.
AB - Prions enter the environment from infected hosts, bind to a wide range of soil and soil minerals, and remain highly infectious. Environmental sources of prions almost certainly contribute to the transmission of chronic wasting disease in cervids and scrapie in sheep and goats. While much is known about the introduction of prions into the environment and their interaction with soil, relatively little is known about prion degradation and inactivation by natural environmental processes. In this study, we examined the effect of repeated cycles of drying and wetting on prion fitness and determined that 10 cycles of repeated drying and wetting could reduce PrPSc abundance, PMCA amplification efficiency and extend the incubation period of disease. Importantly, prions bound to soil were more susceptible to inactivation by repeated cycles of drying and wetting compared to unbound prions, a result which may be due to conformational changes in soil-bound PrPSc or consolidation of the bonding between PrPSc and soil. This novel finding demonstrates that naturally-occurring environmental process can degrade prions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84924368477&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84924368477&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004638
DO - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004638
M3 - Article
C2 - 25665187
AN - SCOPUS:84924368477
VL - 11
JO - PLoS Pathogens
JF - PLoS Pathogens
SN - 1553-7366
IS - 2
M1 - e1004638
ER -