Figure 2.

Sedimentation profiles of host‐encoded prion protein (PrP^C) derived from different regions of variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (vCJD) brains after ultracentrifugation in the sucrose step gradient analyzed by conformation‐dependent immunoassay (CDI) using native conditions. Brain lysates were fractionated in the sucrose step gradients by ultracentrifugation and 11 fractions from top to bottom were collected. The amount of PrP^C in each fraction was measured by CDI using native samples. A. The amount of PrP^C in each fraction was expressed as a percentage (%) to the sum of 11 fractions. B. Eleven fractions were categorized into three groups (top fractions: fractions 1–3; intermediate fractions: fractions 4–8; bottom fractions: fractions 9–11) and the distribution of PrP between groups was expressed as a percentage (%) to the sum of the three groups. Data shown represent the average± SD obtained from five cases of FC of control (white bars) and seven cases of vCJD FC (gray bars). In vCJD Cb (black bars) and vCJD Th (striped bars), data shown represent the average± SD obtained from three cases. The result in every individual was an average for duplicate wells. Abbreviations: FC = frontal cortex; Cb = cerebellum; Th = posterior thalamus; TRF = time‐resolved fluorescence; SD = standard deviation.