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Presence of prion protein in peripheral tissues of Libyan Jews with Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease

The prion protein (PrP) gene on chromosome 20 encodes a protein designated PrPC. An abnormal, protease-resistant isoform of PrPC, denoted PrPCJD or PrPSc, is present in the brains of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). In Libyan Jews, CJD segregates with a point mutation at codon 200 of the PrP gene, resulting in the substitution of lysine for glutamate. In the present study, we examined the presence of PrP in fibroblasts and leukocytes derived from eight CJD patients with the codon 200 mutation. In cultured fibroblasts as well as in leukocytes, there was a significant increase in PrP as judged by immunocytochemistry in addition to immunoblotting. Most of the PrP in fibroblasts and leukocytes could be released from the external surface by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C, a property characteristic of PrPC. In leukocytes only, part of the protein was protease resistant, resembling PrPCJD. The concentration of PrP mRNA was similar in fibroblast lines derived from controls and CJD patients. These results suggest that in CJD patients carrying a mutation at codon 200 of the PrP gene, the metabolism of PrP, rather than PrP synthesis, is abnormal.