Prion Protein Glycosylation Is Not Required for Strain-Specific Neurotropism

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the glycosylation of the pathogenic isoform of the prion protein (PrPSc) might encode the selective neurotropism of prion strains. We prepared unglycosylated cellular prion protein (PrPC) substrate molecules from normal mouse brain by treatment with PNGase F and used reconstituted serial protein cyclic misfolding amplification reactions to produce RML and 301C mouse prions containing unglycosylated PrPSc molecules. Both RML- and 301C-derived prions containing unglycosylated PrPSc molecules were infectious to wild-type mice, and neuropathological analysis showed that mice inoculated with these samples maintained strain-specific patterns of PrPSc deposition and neuronal vacuolation. These results show that PrPSc glycosylation is not necessary for strain-dependent prion neurotropism.