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Kim YC, Kim HH, Kim K, Kim AD, Jeong BH. Novel Polymorphisms and Genetic Characteristics of the Shadow of Prion Protein Gene ( SPRN) in Cats, Hosts of Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy. Viruses 2022; 14:v14050981. [PMID: 35632724 PMCID: PMC9148082 DOI: 10.3390/v14050981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) caused by pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc) originating from normal prion protein (PrPC) and have been reported in several types of livestock and pets. Recent studies have reported that the shadow of prion protein (Sho) encoded by the shadow of prion protein gene (SPRN) interacts with prion protein (PrP) and accelerates prion diseases. In addition, genetic polymorphisms in the SPRN gene are related to susceptibility to prion diseases. However, genetic polymorphisms in the feline SPRN gene and structural characteristics of the Sho have not been investigated in cats, a major host of feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE). We performed amplicon sequencing to identify feline SPRN polymorphisms in the 623 bp encompassing the open reading frame (ORF) and a small part of the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the SPRN gene. We analyzed the impact of feline SPRN polymorphisms on the secondary structure of SPRN mRNA using RNAsnp. In addition, to find feline-specific amino acids, we carried out multiple sequence alignments using ClustalW. Furthermore, we analyzed the N-terminal signal peptide and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor using SignalP and PredGPI, respectively. We identified three novel SNPs in the feline SPRN gene and did not find strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) among the three SNPs. We found four major haplotypes of the SPRN polymorphisms. Strong LD was not observed between PRNP and SPRN polymorphisms. In addition, we found alterations in the secondary structure and minimum free energy of the mRNA according to the haplotypes in the SPRN polymorphisms. Furthermore, we found four feline-specific amino acids in the feline Sho using multiple sequence alignments among several species. Lastly, the N-terminal signal sequence and cutting site of the Sho protein of cats showed similarity with those of other species. However, the feline Sho protein exhibited the shortest signal sequence and a unique amino acid in the omega-site of the GPI anchor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on genetic polymorphisms of the feline SPRN gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Chan Kim
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54531, Jeonbuk, Korea; (Y.-C.K.); (H.-H.K.)
- Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Jeonbuk, Korea
| | - Hyeon-Ho Kim
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54531, Jeonbuk, Korea; (Y.-C.K.); (H.-H.K.)
- Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Jeonbuk, Korea
| | - Kiwon Kim
- Haemalken Animal Hospital, Yangju 11492, Gyeonggi, Korea;
| | - An-Dang Kim
- Cool-Pet Animal Hospital, Anyang 14066, Gyeonggi, Korea;
| | - Byung-Hoon Jeong
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54531, Jeonbuk, Korea; (Y.-C.K.); (H.-H.K.)
- Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Jeonbuk, Korea
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-63-900-4040; Fax: +82-63-900-4012
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Roh IS, Kim YC, Kim HJ, Won SY, Jeong MJ, Hwang JY, Kang HE, Sohn HJ, Jeong BH. Polymorphisms of the prion-related protein gene are strongly associated with cervids' susceptibility to chronic wasting disease. Vet Rec 2021; 190:e940. [PMID: 34562285 DOI: 10.1002/vetr.940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a cervid prion disease that is caused by abnormal prion protein (PrPSc ). Recent studies have reported that prion family genes showed a strong association with the susceptibility of several types of prion diseases. To date, an association study of the prion-related protein gene (PRNT) has not been performed in any type of cervid prion disease. METHODS In the present study, we investigated PRNT polymorphisms in large deer, including 235 elk, 257 red deer and 150 sika deer. We compared genotype, allele and haplotype frequencies of PRNT polymorphisms between CWD-negative animals and CWD-positive animals to find an association of PRNT polymorphisms with the susceptibility of CWD. RESULTS We found a total of five novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cervid PRNT gene. Interestingly, we observed significantly different distributions of genotypes and allele frequencies of three PRNT SNPs, including c.108C>T, c.159+30C>T and c.159+32A>C, between CWD-negative and CWD-positive red deer. In addition, significant differences of two haplotype frequencies in red deer were found between the CWD-negative and CWD-positive groups. However, the association identified in the red deer was not found in elk and sika deer. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first to describe the strong association of PRNT SNPs with the susceptibility of CWD.
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Affiliation(s)
- In-Soon Roh
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Yong-Chan Kim
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan, Republic of Korea.,Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyo-Jin Kim
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Sae-Young Won
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan, Republic of Korea.,Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Min-Ju Jeong
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan, Republic of Korea.,Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Ji-Yong Hwang
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hae-Eun Kang
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun-Joo Sohn
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Byung-Hoon Jeong
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan, Republic of Korea.,Department of Bioactive Material Sciences and Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
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Won SY, Kim YC, Do K, Jeong BH. The First Report of Genetic Polymorphisms of the Equine SPRN Gene in Outbred Horses, Jeju and Halla Horses. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:2574. [PMID: 34573540 DOI: 10.3390/ani11092574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Prion disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by the accumulation of pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc) in various mammalian hosts. However, to date, prion disease has not been reported in horses. Since the Sho protein encoded by the shadow of the prion protein gene (SPRN) plays an essential role in the progression of prion diseases, we investigated the genetic characteristics of the equine SPRN gene in horses. We found four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the equine SPRN gene and significant different distributions among three horse breeds including Jeju, Halla and Thoroughbred horses. Although the polymorphisms affect the property of mRNA of the equine SPRN gene, it did not affect the sequence and structure of Sho protein. Since several non-synonymous SNPs of the SPRN gene have been reported in prion diseases-susceptible animals, the absence of non-synonymous SNP of the equine SPRN gene in the horses is noticeable. Abstract Prion disease is a fatal infectious disease caused by the accumulation of pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc) in several mammals. However, to date, prion disease has not been reported in horses. The Sho protein encoded by the shadow of the prion protein gene (SPRN) plays an essential role in the pathomechanism of prion diseases. To date, the only genetic study of the equine SPRN gene has been reported in the inbred horse, Thoroughbred horse. We first discovered four SPRN single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 141 Jeju and 88 Halla horses by direct DNA sequencing. In addition, we found that the genotype, allele and haplotype frequencies of these SNPs of Jeju horses were significantly different from those of Halla and Thoroughbred horses, this latter breed is also included in this study. Furthermore, we observed that the minimum free energy and mRNA secondary structure were significantly different according to haplotypes of equine SPRN polymorphisms by the RNAsnp program. Finally, we compared the SNPs in the coding sequence (CDS) of the SPRN gene between horses and prion disease-susceptible species. Notably, prion disease-susceptible animals had polymorphisms that cause amino acid changes in the open reading frame (ORF) of the SPRN gene, while these polymorphisms were not found in horses.
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Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also known as prion diseases, are a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases detected in a wide range of mammalian species. The "protein-only" hypothesis of TSE suggests that prions are transmissible particles devoid of nucleic acid and the primary pathogenic event is thought to be the conversion of cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) into the disease-associated isoform (PrP(Sc)). According to susceptibility to TSEs, animals can be classified into susceptible species and low susceptibility species. In this review we focus on several species with low susceptibility to TSEs: dogs, rabbits, horses and buffaloes. We summarize recent studies into the characteristics of low susceptibility regarding protein structure, and biochemical and genetic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Li Qing
- Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resources, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Hui Zhao
- Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resources, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China.
| | - Lin-Lin Liu
- Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resources, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
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