Figure 4.
Prion Transport and Spread. PrPSc can traffic to its target directly (transport) or can convert endogenous PrPC anywhere along the pathway and amplify (spread). Currently, detection methods such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) or Western blot (WB) can only measure the spread of PrPSc because threshold levels of PrPSc are required for successful detection. Moreover, this spread has been demonstrated to vary between prion strains and can influence calculation of transport/spread. More sensitive measurement techniques can approximate transport more accurately (requires lower PrPSc threshold for detection or even directly measure PrPSc transport). Note: Light green dots in coronal brain sections represents the original inoculum PrPSc, while the black dots represent newly replicated PrPSc. Image created with BioRender.com, accessed on 15 March 2022.