K. Dohura et al., IDENTIFICATION OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES IN SCRAPIE-INFECTED MOUSE NEUROBLASTOMA-CELLS, Microbial pathogenesis, 18(1), 1995, pp. 1-9
In vitro cDNA libraries from scrapie-infected and non-infected murine
neuroblastoma cell lines were screened with cDNA probes derived by sub
tractive hybridization from scrapie-infected and uninfected cells to i
dentify genes with altered expression associated with scrapie infectio
n. Eleven independent recombinant clones, whose expression was either
increased or decreased in scrapie-infected cells, were identified. Exp
ression of these genes was also analyzed in a panel of scrapie-infecte
d and non-infected cell lines. Five genes had altered mRNA expression
in most scrapie-infected neuroblastoma cell clones compared to non-inf
ected clones. These genes were chromogranin B, intracisternal-A partic
le envelope, ornithine decarboxylase antizyme, heat shock protein 70 a
nd one unidentified gene. None of these alterations in gene expression
was uniquely scrapie-specific; however, the skewed association of inc
reased expression with scrapie infection suggested that a causal relat
ionship might exist between scrapie infection and altered expression o
f these genes in mouse neuroblastoma cells in vitro.