Abstract
Tubulovesicular structures (TVS) have been consistently observed in brain tissue of animals with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as natural and experimental scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). In this communication we demonstrate for the first time the presence of TVS in natural CJD. TVS were detected in all 3 CJD specimens. However, they were rare and were found only in one or two locations per grid. They were seen in distended pre- and postsynaptic terminals and measured approximately 35 nm in diameter, and they were smaller and of higher electron density than synaptic vesicles. Their occurrence in all types of spongiform encephalopathies irrespective of the affected host and the strain of infectious agent emphasizes their biological significance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
BaringerJR., PrusinerS.B. and WongJ.S. (1981): Scrapie-associated particles in postsynaptic processes. Further ultrastructural studies - J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 40: 281–288.
BaringerJ.R. and PrusinerS.B. (1978): Experimental scrapie in mice: ultrastructural observations - Ann. Neurol., 4: 205–211.
BaringerJR., WongJ., KlassenT. and PrusinerS.B. (1979): Further observations on the neuropathology of experimental scrapie in mouse and hamsters, in Slow Transmissible Diseases of the Nervous System, vol., 2, Prusiner, S.B., and Hadlow, W. J. - Edit., Academic Press, New York, 111–121.
BignamiA. and ParryH.B. (1971): Aggregations of 35-nanometer particle associated with neuronal cytopathic changes in natural scrapie - Science, 171: 389–390.
CaugheyB., RaceR.E., ErnstD., BuchmeierM.J. and ChesebroB. (1989): Prion protein biosynthesis in scrapie-infected and uninfected neuroblastoma cells -J. Virol., 63: 175–181.
David-FerreiraJ.F., David-FerreiraK.L., GibbsC.J.Jr. and MorrisJ.A. (1968): Scrapie in mice: ultrastructural observations in the cerebral cortex -Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 127: 313–320.
FieldE.J. and NarangH.K. (1972): An electronmicroscopic study of scrapie in rat: further observations on inclusion bodies - J. Neurol. Sci., 17: 347–364.
GajdusekD.C. (1977): Unconventional viruses and the origin and disappearance of kuru - Science., 197: 943–960.
GibsonP.H. and DoughtyL.A. (1989): An electron microscopic study of inclusion bodies in synaptic terminals of scrapie-infected animals - Acta Neuropathol., (Berl), 77: 420-.
KimJ.H. and ManuelidisE.E. (1986): Serial ultrastructural study of experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in guinea pigs - Acta Neuropathol. (Berl.), 69: 81–90.
KingsburyD. T, SmeltzerD.A., AmyxH.L., GibbsCJ.Jr. and GajdusekD.C (1982): Evidence for an unconventional virus in mouse-adapted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - Infect. Immun., 37: 1050–1053.
LamarC.H., GustafsonD.P., KrasovichM. and HinsmanE.J. (1974): Ultrastructural studies of spleens, brains, and brain cell cultures of mice with scrapie - Vet. Pathol., 11: 13–19.
LampertP.W., GajdusekD.C. and GibbsCJ.Jr. (1971): Experimental spongiform encephalopathy (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) in chimpanzees - J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 30: 20–32.
LiberskiP.P., AsherD.M., YanagiharaR., GibbsCJ.Jr. and GajdusekD.C (1989): Serial ultrastructural studies of scrapie in hamsters. J. Comp. Pathol., 101: 429–442.
LiberskiP.P., YanagiharaR., GibbsCJ.Jr. and GajdusekD. C (1990): Appearance of tubulovesicular structures in experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and scrapie precedes the onset of clinical disease -Acta Neuropathol. (Berl.), 79: 349–354.
LiberskiP.P., YanagiharaR., GibbsCJ.Jr. and GajdusekD.C. (1988): Tubulovesicular structures in experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease -Intervirology, 29: 115–119.
Liberski P.P., Yanagihara R., Wells G, Gibbs CJ. Jr. and Gajdusek D. C. (1990): Ultrastructural neuropathology of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - Abstract P28-10. In: VIIIth International Congress of Virology, Berlin, August 26–31, 1990, 283.
NarangH.K. (1988): A chronological study of experimental scrapie in mice - Virus Res., 9: 293-.
NarangH.K. (1973): Ruthenium red and lanthanum nitrate a possible tracer and negative stain for scrapie “particles”? Acta Neuropathol., (Berl.), 29: 37–43.
NarangH.K., AsherD.M., PomeroyK.L. and GajdusekD.C (1987): Abnormal tubulovesicular particles in brains of hamsters with scrapie - Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 184: 504–509.
NarangH.K., ChandlerR.L. and AngerH.S. (1980): Further observations on particulate structures in scrapie affected brain - Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol, 6: 23–28.
TateishiJ., OhtaM., KogaM., SatoY. and Kuroiwa Y. (1978): Transmission of chronic spongiform encephalopathy with kuru plaques from humans to rodents - Ann. Neurol., 24: 35–40.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Corresponding author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liberski, P.P., Budka, H., Sluga, E. et al. Tubulovesicular structures in human and experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Eur J Epidemiol 7, 551–555 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00143138
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00143138