Abstract
Transmission studies in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) have become increasingly important due to the possible transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans resulting in new variant Creutzfeldt–Jacob disease. The horizontal transmission of scrapie, a TSE of sheep, is poorly understood. Possible sources of horizontal transmission are the submandibular and parotid salivary glands. TSEs like natural sheep scrapie are characterized by the conversion of a normal protease sensitive prion protein, PrPc, to an abnormal protease resistant prion protein, PrPSc. Since the presence of PrPSc is an indicator of disease, the salivary glands of scrapie-infected sheep were examined for the presence of PrPSc. Although PrPc mRNA was detected in the salivary glands, PrPSc was not found in the salivary glands of scrapie-infected sheep. These data suggest that the salivary glands are unlikely sources of horizontal transmission of natural sheep scrapie.
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