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Myenteric Neurons Of The Ileum That Express Somatostatin Are A Target Of Prion Neuroinvasion In An Alimentary Model Of Sheep Scrapie, David A. Schneider, Huijun Yan, Lindsay M. Fry, Janet Alverson, Stephen N. White, Katherine I. O'Rourke

Other Publications in Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease

Neuroinvasion of the enteric nervous system by prions is an important step in dissemination to the brain, yet very little is known about the basic process of enteric neuroinvasion. Using an alimentary model of neonatal disease transmission, neuroinvasion by scrapie prions in the ileum of lambs was detected by immunohistochemical staining for the disease-associated form of the prion protein, PrP^Sc. Odds ratios (OR) were determined for the frequency of PrP^Sc staining within enteric somata categorized by plexus location (myenteric, submucosal) and neurochemical staining (PGP 9.5, neural nitric oxide synthase, somatostatin, substance P, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide). PrP …