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Prion propagation and toxicity in vivo occur in two distinct mechanistic phases

Nature volume 470, pages 540–542 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Mammalian prions cause fatal neurodegenerative conditions including Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans and scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in animals1. Prion infections are typically associated with remarkably prolonged but highly consistent incubation periods followed by a rapid clinical phase. The relationship between prion propagation, generation of neurotoxic species and clinical onset has remained obscure. Prion incubation periods in experimental animals are known to vary inversely with expression level of cellular prion protein. Here we demonstrate that prion propagation in brain proceeds via two distinct phases: a clinically silent exponential phase not rate-limited by prion protein concentration which rapidly reaches a maximal prion titre, followed by a distinct switch to a plateau phase. The latter determines time to clinical onset in a manner inversely proportional to prion protein concentration. These findings demonstrate an uncoupling of infectivity and toxicity. We suggest that prions themselves are not neurotoxic but catalyse the formation of such species from PrPC. Production of neurotoxic species is triggered when prion propagation saturates, leading to a switch from autocatalytic production of infectivity (phase 1) to a toxic (phase 2) pathway.

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Figure 1: Survival times and levels of infectivity during prion infection.
Figure 2: Kinetics of prion propagation and toxicity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the UK Medical Research Council. We thank J. Wadsworth for critical review of the manuscript, S. Walker for statistical advice, staff of our Biological Services Facility for animal care and technical assistance and R. Young for preparation of figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK

    Malin K. Sandberg, Huda Al-Doujaily, Bernadette Sharps, Anthony R. Clarke & John Collinge

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  1. Malin K. Sandberg
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  2. Huda Al-Doujaily
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  3. Bernadette Sharps
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  4. Anthony R. Clarke
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  5. John Collinge
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Contributions

M.K.S., H.A.-D. and B.S. performed the work. M.K.S., A.R.C. and J.C. designed the study and analysed the data. J.C. drafted the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to John Collinge.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Sandberg, M., Al-Doujaily, H., Sharps, B. et al. Prion propagation and toxicity in vivo occur in two distinct mechanistic phases. Nature 470, 540–542 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09768

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