Repetitive Immunization Enhances the Susceptibility of Mice to Peripherally Administered Prions
Figure 1
Repetitive immunization of wild-type mice.
(A) Treatment scheme for immunization. Arrows denote the time points of injections of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Treatment included an induction (−6 to −4 weeks) and a maintenance phase (−2 to +18 weeks). (B–E) Selected immunized (i) and non- immunized mice (ni) were sacrificed at the time point of prion inoculation. (B) Relative spleen weight and splenic PrPC levels as determined by ELISA. Spleen derived from a PrPC deficient mouse (Prnp−/−) served as negative, spleen from a PrPC overexpressing mouse (tga20) as positive control. Hematological cell counts (C), serum levels of selected cytokines (D), and blood chemistry (E) (AP: alkaline phosphatase; ASAT: aspartate amino transferase; GLDH: glutamate dehydrogenase; ALAT: alanine amino transferase) showed mild polyglobulia and leukocytosis, as well as mild liver damage in repetitively immunized mice. Unpaired t-tests: (*) p<0.05; (***) p = 0.001; (n.s.) not significantly different.