Fig. 3.
Thermal stability of prions adsorbed to steel wires or in suspension. Steel wires were exposed to 10−4 or 10−5 dilutions of RML brain homogenate and rinsed in PBS. The wires and 10−4 and 10−5 dilutions of RML-infected brain homogenates were incubated across a temperature range of 4 °C to 134 °C for 15 min. Wires were assayed as detailed for the steel-binding assay; homogenate infectivity was assessed by SCEPA. The m values were determined by the Poisson relationship as described in Materials and Methods.