Table 3. Relative conformational stability and immunospecificity of PrPSc in the brains of MDR0/0 mice after inoculation with untreated and MDR0/0[0>] homogenates.
| Relative PrPSc (%) | ||
| GdnHCl (M) | Untreated MDR0/0 inoculum | MDR0/0[0>] inoculum |
| 0 | 100.0±5.0 | 100.0±6.0 |
| 0.5 | 100.0±8.0 | 102.0±7.0 |
| 1.0 | 63.8±4.4 | 55.3±4.8 |
| 1.3 | 31.3±1.1 | 29.1±1.9 |
| 1.5 | 12.1±1.4 | 15.7±1.9 |
| 1.7 | 5.6±0.0 | 5.0±1.8 |
| 2.0 | 0.0±0.0 | 0.2±0.1 |
| CDI (FD/FN) | 19.5±0.1 | 18.5±0.1 |
At the endpoint of disease, brain homogenates were exposed to the indicated concentrations of GdnHCl for 1 h, then to 50 µg/mL of PK for 1 h at 37°C. The levels of protease-resistant PrPSc were quantitatively measured by ELISA and normalized to 0 M GdnHCl. CDI measurements are the ratio of ELISA signals from PTA-precipitated native and denatured PrPSc as described in Materials and Methods. Values are mean percentages ± standard error (n = 3).