Study of stability of variants of ovine prions with different susceptibilities to scrapie

Well-defined set of sheep PrP polymorphisms at positions 136, 154 and 171 define susceptibility to scrapie, ranging from very high susceptibility observed for V136-R154-Q171 (VRQ) variant to resistance for A136-R154-R171 (ARR).To gain insight into the mechanisms of scrapie susceptibility/resistance, the unfolding pathways of the sheep prion protein variants were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry over a wide range of pH. Thermal unfolding occurs, in the 5.0 to 6.0 pH range, through a reversible one-step process while at pH<4.5 and >6.0 unfolding intermediates are formed, which are stable in the 65–80°C range. The observed differences correlate with ovine susceptibility to scrapie.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.