Detection of CWD prions in naturally infected white-tailed deer fetuses and gestational tissues by PMCA

Francisca Bravo-Risi,Robert Dittmar,Tracy Nichols,Santiago Ramírez,Mitch Lockwood,Celso S G Catumbela,Claudio Soto,Rodrigo Morales,Paulina Soto,Thomas Eckland

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97737-y

Abstract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prevalent prion disease affecting cervids. CWD is thought to be transmitted through direct animal contact or by indirect exposure to contaminated environmental fomites. Other mechanisms of propagation such as vertical and maternal transmissions have also been suggested using naturally and experimentally infected animals. Here, we describe the detection of CWD prions in naturally-infected, farmed white-tailed deer (WTD) fetal tissues using the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) technique. Prion seeding activity was identified in a variety of gestational and fetal tissues. Future studies should demonstrate if prions present in fetuses are at sufficient quantities to cause CWD after birth. This data confirms previous findings in other animal species and furthers vertical transmission as a relevant mechanism of CWD dissemination.

Highlights

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prevalent prion disease affecting cervids
Mother-tooffspring prion transmission appears to be prion-strain specific as evidence in other animal species including humans, Syrian hamsters and sheep infected with the classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent show that progeny from infected females at the moment of gestation do not develop prion disease in the longterm[22,27]
While direct animal contact and environmental contamination provide reasonable explanations on how this disease is transmitted, evidence involving fetal infection and maternal exposure suggest that these routes may be relevant for disease transmission

Summary

Introduction

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prevalent prion disease affecting cervids. CWD is thought to be transmitted through direct animal contact or by indirect exposure to contaminated environmental fomites. Future studies should demonstrate if prions present in fetuses are at sufficient quantities to cause CWD after birth This data confirms previous findings in other animal species and furthers vertical transmission as a relevant mechanism of CWD dissemination. Of naturally infected e lk[30] and experimentally-infected muntjac d eer[29] In both cases, prion identification using either the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) technique, or immunohistochemistry (IHC) provided convincing evidence of prion accumulation in fetal tissues. Prion identification using either the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) technique, or immunohistochemistry (IHC) provided convincing evidence of prion accumulation in fetal tissues Whether this occurs in naturally infected white-tailed deer (WTD) is still unknown

Methods

Results

Conclusion