Comparison of French natural scrapie isolates with bovine spongiform encephalopathy and experimental scrapie infected sheep

We compared the glycoform pattern of the abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) det ected by immunoblotting in 21 sheep with natural scrapie, from 21 different outbreaks identified in France since 1996, with a bovine spongiform enceph alopathy (BSE)-infected sheep. All the natural scrapie isolates had a highe r molecular mass of the unglycosylated PrPSc than in BSE-infected sheep. In the latter case, this molecular mass appeared identical to that found in t he CH 1641 experimental scrapie strain (type C pattern), whereas in natural scrapie cases it was similar to that found in the SSBP/1 experimental scra pie strains. These results suggest that all French natural scrapie isolates studied so far would belong, as SSBP/1. to the group of scrapie cases with type A electrophoretic pattern. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.