Comparative proteomics analyses for 139A and ME7 scrapie infected mice brains in the middle and terminal stages.

PURPOSE: To analyze the proteomics patterns in the cortex regions of scrapie strains 139A- and ME7-infected mice collected in the middle and terminal stages.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Western Blot and immunohistochemistry methods are used to analyze the pathological changes in mice collected in the middle and terminal stages. The technique of iTRAQ and multidimensional LC and MS are used to analyze the proteomics patterns of mice in different stages.

RESULTS: In total, 2891 with 95% confidence interval are identified. The study here also demonstrates a similar protein expressions in the CNS tissues of two scrapie strains infected mice at the terminal stages, but markedly different one between the middle and terminal samples, not only in the numbers of differentially expressed proteins and involved gene ontologies and pathways but also in the relevant functional constitutions.

CONCLUSIONS: It may provide useful clue in exploring the abnormalities of biological functions at different time points of prion infections and in searching for potential therapeutic and diagnostic biomarkers for prion diseases.