Background: In scrapie and prion diseases, the knowledge concerning genes involved in host response during the early infection period in the lymphoid tissues, still remains limited. In the present study, we have examined differential gene expression in ileal Peyer's patches and in laser microdissected follicles of sheep infected with scrapie.
Methods: Ileal Peyer's patches and laser microdissected follicles were of scrapie and control lambs with susceptible genotypes for classical scrapie. Potential regulated genes were found using RNA arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (RAP-PCR) and fingerprinting. The differentially expressed genes were confirmed using real-time RT-PCR.
Results: The expression of three genes (MAPRE3, LOC729073 and DNAJC3), were found to be significantly altered in scrapie infected lambs (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The three genes have not previously been associated with prion diseases and are interesting as they may reflect biological processes involved in the molecular pathogenesis of prion diseases.