Congo red prolongs the incubation period in scrapie-infected hamsters.

In scrapie-infected cells, Congo red inhibits both the replication of the infectious agent and accumulation of the protease-resistant form of PrP (PrP-res). In this report, we show that Congo red prolongs the incubation periods of hamsters experimentally infected with two different strains of scrapie.     

Potent Inhibition of Scrapie-Associated PrP Accumulation by Congo Red

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (prion diseases), Alzheimer's disease, and other amyloidoses result in the accumulation of certain abnormally stable proteins that are thought by many to play central roles in disease pathogenesis. Using scrapie-infected neuroblastoma cells as a model system, we found that Congo red, an amyloid-binding dye, potently inhibits the accumulation of the scrapie-associated, protease-resistant isoform of protein PrP without affecting the metabolism of the normal isoform. Growth of the cells with submicromolar concentrations of Congo red for 5 days reduced the amount of protease-resistant PrP detected in the cultures by greater than 90%. This activity of Congo red suggests that it selectively disrupts the conversion of PrP to the protease-resistant isoform or destabilizes this isoform once it is made. Potential therapeutic applications of Congo red are discussed.     

Inhibition of scrapie-associated PrP accumulation

Accumulation of an abnormal, protease-resistant form of an endogenous protein, PrP, is a characteristic feature of scrapie and related transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. This abnormal isoform is also present in the amyloid plaques that are often observed in these diseases. In mouse neuroblastoma cells persistently infected with scrapie, the abnormal protease-resistant isoform of PrP is derived from an operationally normal protease-sensitive precursor. Conversion of PrP to the protease-resistant state occurs either on the plasma membrane or along an endocytic pathway by an unknown mechanism. Inhibitors of protease-resistant PrP accumulation have been identified, and these include the amyloid-binding dye Congo red and certain sulfated glycans. The similarity of these compounds to sulfated glycosaminoglycans, which are components of all natural amyloids, has led to the hypothesis that the inhibitors act by competitively blocking an interaction between endogenous glycosaminoglycan(s) and PrP that is critical for amyloidogenic PrP accumulation. The proven prophylactic effect of these sulfated glycans in animal models of scrapie suggests that they represent a group of compounds that might interfere with the pathogenic formation of amyloid in a variety of diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.     

Binding of the protease-sensitive form of PrP (prion protein) to sulfated glycosaminoglycan and congo red [corrected]

Congo red and certain sulfated glycans are potent inhibitors of protease-resistant PrP accumulation in scrapie-infected cells. One hypothesis is that these inhibitors act by blocking the association between protease-resistant PrP and sulfated glycosaminoglycans or proteoglycans (e.g., heparan sulfate proteoglycan) that is observed in amyloid plaques of scrapie-infected brain tissue. Accordingly, we have investigated whether the apparent precursor of protease-resistant PrP, protease-sensitive PrP, binds to Congo red and heparin, a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan with an inhibitory potency like that of heparan sulfate. Protease-sensitive PrP released from the surface of mouse neuroblastoma cells bound to heparin-agarose and Congo red-glass beads. Sucrose density gradient fractionation provided evidence that at least some of the PrP capable of binding heparin-agarose was monomeric. Free Congo red blocked PrP binding to heparin and vice versa, suggesting that these ligands share a common binding site. The relative efficacies of pentosan polysulfate, Congo red, heparin, and chondroitin sulfate in blocking PrP binding to heparin-agarose corresponded with their previously demonstrated potencies in inhibiting protease-resistant PrP accumulation. These results are consistent with the idea that sulfated glycans and Congo red inhibit protease-resistant PrP accumulation by interfering with the interaction of PrP with an endogenous glycosaminoglycan or proteoglycan.     

Prion protein devoid of the octapeptide repeat region restores susceptibility to scrapie in PrP knockout mice

Mice devoid of PrP are resistant to scrapie and fail to replicate the agent. Introduction of transgenes expressing PrP into such mice restores susceptibility to scrapie. We find that truncated PrP devoid of the five copper binding octarepeats still sustains scrapie infection; however, incubation times are longer and prion titers and protease-resistant PrP are about 30-fold lower than in wild-type mice. Surprisingly, brains of terminally ill animals show no histopathology typical for scrapie. However, in the spinal cord, infectivity, gliosis, and motor neuron loss are as in scrapie-infected wild-type controls. Thus, while the region comprising the octarepeats is not essential for mediating pathogenesis and prion replication, it modulates the extent of these events and of disease presentation.     

The scrapie-associated form of PrP is made from a cell surface precursor that is both protease- and phospholipase-sensitive.

A common feature of scrapie and related transmissible spongiform encephalopathies is the accumulation of an abnormal protease-resistant form of PrP which may be the major component of the infectious agent. While it is known that both the normal (protease-sensitive) PrP and protease-resistant PrP are encoded by the same endogenous gene, the nature of the disease-associated modification of PrP is not understood. To study the cellular events leading to the formation of protease-resistant PrP, we have compared its biosynthesis to that of its normal isoform in scrapie-infected mouse neuroblastoma cells. In pulse-chase labeling experiments, the protease-resistant PrP was synthesized and degraded much more slowly than the normal PrP, suggesting that protease-resistant PrP is made from a protease-sensitive precursor. More significantly, we found that the precursor of protease-resistant PrP was eliminated from intact cells by treatments with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and trypsin. This demonstrated that, unlike the protease-resistant PrP itself, the precursor is phospholipase- and protease-sensitive and at least transiently found on the cell surface. By these criteria, the precursor of protease-resistant PrP is indistinguishable from the normal PrP isoform. These results indicate that the conversion of PrP to the protease- and phospholipase-resistant state is a post-translational event that occurs after the precursor reaches the cell surface.     

Attempts to convert the cellular prion protein into the scrapie isoform in cell-free systems.

The scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) is derived from a cellular isoform (PrPC) that acquires protease resistance posttranslationally. We have used several different experimental approaches in attempts to reconstitute in vitro the processes leading to protease-resistant PrPSc molecules. In the first study, we performed mixing experiments by adding mouse PrP 27-30 (MoPrP27-30), the protease-resistant core of PrPSc, to PrPC and then incubating the mixture to investigate the possibility of heterodimer formation as a first step in prion replication. We used epitopically tagged PrP molecules, synthesized in murine neuroblastoma (N2a) cells transfected with the chimeric mouse/Syrian hamster MHM2 PrP construct, which are recognized by the Syrian hamster-specific monoclonal antibody 3F4. After as long as 24 h of incubation, the reaction mixture was assayed for heterodimeric intermediates of MHM2 PrPC and MoPrPSc and for protease-resistant 3F4-reactive PrP. We were unable to identify any aggregates of MHM2 PrPC and MoPrPSc on immunoblots; furthermore, we did not observe de novo formation of protease-resistant MHM2 PrP. In a second study, MoPrPC was metabolically radiolabeled in scrapie prion-infected N2a cultured cells, and then the cell extract was homogenized and incubated under various conditions to allow for the formation of protease-resistant MoPrPSc. We observed no radiolabeled MoPrPSc by immunoprecipitation after as long as 24 h of in vitro incubation. In a third approach, Syrian hamster PrP (SHaPrP) was synthesized in a cell-free translation system supplemented with microsomal membranes derived from either normal or scrapie prion-infected cultured cells. We found that all SHaPrP species translocated across microsomal membranes from scrapie prion-infected cells were protease sensitive in the presence of detergents and displayed the same topology as those generated by microsomes from normal cells or from dog pancreas. We also studied PrP molecules that encode the codon 102 mutation that causes the rare human prion disease Gerstmann-Str?ussler-Scheinker (GSS) syndrome. On the basis of our data, GSSPrP appears to yield topological forms similar to those of the wild-type PrP when processed by either normal or scrapie prion-derived microsomes.     

Sulfated polyanion inhibition of scrapie-associated PrP accumulation in cultured cells.

The accumulation of an abnormal, protease-resistant form of the protein PrP (PrP-res) in hosts with scrapie and related transmissible spongiform encephalopathies appears to be important in disease pathogenesis. To gain insight into the mechanism of PrP-res accumulation and the in vivo antiscrapie activity of certain polyanions, we have studied effects of sulfated glycans on PrP metabolism in scrapie-infected neuroblastoma cells. Pentosan polysulfate, like the amyloid-binding dye Congo red, potently inhibited the accumulation of PrP-res in these cells without apparent effects on the metabolism of the normal isoform. The inhibition was due primarily to prevention of new PrP-res accumulation rather than destabilization of preexisting PrP-res. PrP-res accumulation remained depressed in the cultures after removal of the inhibitors. The activities of other sulfated glycans, nonsulfated polyanions, dextran, and DEAE-dextran were compared with those of pentosan polysulfate and Congo red. This comparison provided evidence that the density of sulfation and molecular size are factors influencing anti-PrP-res activity of sulfated glycans. The relative potencies of these compounds corresponded well with their previously determined antiscrapie activities in vivo, suggesting that the prophylactic effects of sulfated polyanions may be due to inhibition of PrP-res accumulation. Since PrP-res amyloid is known to contain sulfated glycosaminoglycans, we reason that these inhibitors may competitively block an interaction between PrP and endogenous glycosaminoglycans that is essential for its accumulation in a protease-resistant, potentially amyloidogenic state.     

Acute formation of protease-resistant prion protein does not always lead to persistent scrapie infection in vitro

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are accompanied by the accumulation of a pathologic isoform of a host-encoded protein, termed prion protein (PrP). Despite the widespread distribution of the cellular isoform of PrP (protease-sensitive PrP; PrP-sen), the disease-associated isoform (protease-resistant PrP; PrP-res) appears to be primarily restricted to cells of the nervous and lymphoreticular systems. In order to study why scrapie infection appears to be restricted to certain cells, we followed acute and persistent PrP-res formation upon exposure of cells to different scrapie agents. We found that, independent of the cell type and scrapie strain, initial PrP-res formation occurred rapidly in cells. However, sustained generation of PrP-res and persistent infection did not necessarily follow acute PrP-res formation. Persistent PrP-res formation and scrapie infection was restricted to one cell line inoculated with the mouse scrapie strain 22L. In contrast to cells that did not become scrapie-infected, the level of PrP-res in the 22L-infected cells rapidly increased in the absence of a concomitant increase in the number of PrP-res-producing cells. Furthermore, the protein banding pattern of PrP-res in these cells changed over time as the cells became chronically infected. Thus, our results suggest that the events leading to the initial formation of PrP-res may differ from those required for sustained PrP-res formation and infection. This may, at least in part, explain the observation that not all PrP-sen-expressing cells appear to support transmissible spongiform encephalopathy agent replication.     

Opposite effects of dextran sulfate 500, the polyene antibiotic MS-8209, and Congo red on accumulation of the protease-resistant isoform of PrP in the spleens of mice inoculated intraperitoneally with the scrapie agent

The mode and the site of action of the major antiscrapie drugs have been studied by investigating their effects on the abnormal protease-resistant isoform of PrP (PrPres) and on its accumulation in mouse spleen. Day-by-day PrPres accumulation in the spleen and in other peripheral organs was first monitored to describe the early steps of scrapie pathogenesis. Three phases were identified: the detection of scrapie inoculum on the day of scrapie infection, a clearance phase, and then the peripheral accumulation of PrPres. In a second step, the effects of the polyene antibiotic MS-8209, the polyanion dextran sulfate 500 (DS500), and Congo red were assessed on these phases, after the drugs were coincubated with scrapie inoculum. Highly different mechanisms and sites of action were apparent. MS-8209 had a weak effect on the accumulation of PrPres in spleen, suggesting another site of intervention for this drug. DS500 delayed the beginning of the clearance phase but then blocked PrPres synthesis for a long period of time, probably because of its immunological effects on the spleen. Surprisingly, Congo red suppressed the clearance phase of scrapie inoculum and then increased transiently accumulation of PrPres in spleen. We showed in vitro that this effect was related to a direct enhancement of the protease resistance of PrPres by the drug.     

Protease-resistant and detergent-insoluble prion protein is not necessarily associated with prion infectivity.

PrPSc, an abnormal isoform of PrPC, is the only known component of the prion, an agent causing fatal neurodegenerative disorders such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). It has been postulated that prion diseases propagate by the conversion of detergent-soluble and protease-sensitive PrPC molecules into protease-resistant and insoluble PrPSc molecules by a mechanism in which PrPSc serves as a template. We show here that the chemical chaperone dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) can partially inhibit the aggregation of either PrPSc or that of its protease-resistant core PrP27-30. Following Me2SO removal by methanol precipitation, solubilized PrP27-30 molecules aggregated into small and amorphous structures that did not resemble the rod configuration observed when scrapie brain membranes were extracted with Sarkosyl and digested with proteinase K. Interestingly, aggregates derived from Me2SO-solubilized PrP27-30 presented less than 1% of the prion infectivity obtained when the same amount of PrP27-30 in rods was inoculated into hamsters. These results suggest that the conversion of PrPC into protease-resistant and detergent-insoluble PrP molecules is not the only crucial step in prion replication. Whether an additional requirement is the aggregation of newly formed proteinase K-resistant PrP molecules into uniquely structured aggregates remains to be established.     

Molecular characteristics of the major scrapie prion protein

A major protein was identified that purifies with the scrapie agent extracted from infected hamster brains. The protein, designated PrP 27-30, was differentiated from other proteins in purified fractions containing the scrapie agent by its microheterogeneity (Mr 27000-30000) and its unusual resistance to protease digestion. PrP 27-30 was found in all fractions enriched for scrapie prions by discontinuous sucrose gradient sedimentation or sodium dodecyl sarcosinate-agarose gel electrophoresis. It is unlikely that PrP 27-30 is a pathologic product because it was found in fractions isolated from the brains of hamsters sacrificed prior to the appearance of histopathology. If PrP 27-30 is present in normal brain, its concentration must be 100-fold lower than that found in equivalent fractions from scrapie-infected hamsters. Three protease-resistant proteins similar to PrP 27-30 were found in fractions obtained by discontinuous sucrose gradient sedimentation of scrapie-infected mouse brain. These proteins were not evident in corresponding fractions prepared from normal mouse brain. One-dimensional peptide maps comparing PrP 27-30 and normal hamster brain proteins of similar molecular weight demonstrated that PrP 27-30 has a primary structure which is distinct from these normal proteins. Heating substantially purified scrapie fractions to 100 degrees C in sodium dodecyl sulfate inactivated the prion and rendered PrP 27-30 susceptible to protease digestion. Though the scrapie agent appears to be hydrophobic, PrP 27-30 remained in the aqueous phase after extraction with organic solvents, indicating that it is probably not a proteolipid. PrP 27-30 is the first structural component of the scrapie prion to be identified.     

Co-infection with the friend retrovirus and mouse scrapie does not alter prion disease pathogenesis in susceptible mice

Prion diseases are fatal, transmissible neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system. An abnormally protease-resistant and insoluble form (PrP(Sc)) of the normally soluble protease-sensitive host prion protein (PrP(C)) is the major component of the infectious prion. During the course of prion disease, PrP(Sc) accumulates primarily in the lymphoreticular and central nervous systems. Recent studies have shown that co-infection of prion-infected fibroblast cells with the Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) strongly enhanced the release and spread of scrapie infectivity in cell culture, suggesting that retroviral coinfection might significantly influence prion spread and disease incubation times in vivo. We now show that another retrovirus, the murine leukemia virus Friend (F-MuLV), also enhanced the release and spread of scrapie infectivity in cell culture. However, peripheral co-infection of mice with both Friend virus and the mouse scrapie strain 22L did not alter scrapie disease incubation times, the levels of PrP(Sc) in the brain or spleen, or the distribution of pathological lesions in the brain. Thus, retroviral co-infection does not necessarily alter prion disease pathogenesis in vivo, most likely because of different cell-specific sites of replication for scrapie and F-MuLV.     

Inhibition of protease-resistant prion protein accumulation in vitro by curcumin

Inhibition of the accumulation of protease-resistant prion protein (PrP-res) is a prime strategy in the development of potential transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) therapeutics. Here we show that curcumin (diferoylmethane), a major component of the spice turmeric, potently inhibits PrP-res accumulation in scrapie agent-infected neuroblastoma cells (50% inhibitory concentration, approximately 10 nM) and partially inhibits the cell-free conversion of PrP to PrP-res. In vivo studies showed that dietary administration of curcumin had no significant effect on the onset of scrapie in hamsters. Nonetheless, other studies have shown that curcumin is nontoxic and can penetrate the brain, properties that give curcumin advantages over inhibitors previously identified as potential prophylactic and/or therapeutic anti-TSE compounds.     

Long-term subclinical carrier state precedes scrapie replication and adaptation in a resistant species: analogies to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans

Cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) appear to be a reservoir for transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) to humans. Although just over 100 people have developed clinical vCJD, millions have probably been exposed to the infectivity by consumption of BSE-infected beef. It is currently not known whether some of these individuals will develop disease themselves or act as asymptomatic carriers of infectivity which might infect others in the future. We have studied agent persistence and adaptation after cross-species infection using a model of mice inoculated with hamster scrapie strain 263K. Although mice inoculated with hamster scrapie do not develop clinical disease after inoculation with 10 million hamster infectious doses, hamster scrapie infectivity persists in brain and spleen for the life span of the mice. In the present study, we were surprised to find a 1-year period postinfection with hamster scrapie where there was no evidence for replication of infectivity in mouse brain. In contrast, this period of inactive persistence was followed by a period of active replication of infectivity as well as adaptation of new strains of agent capable of causing disease in mice. In most mice, neither the early persistent phase nor the later replicative phase could be detected by immunoblot assay for protease-resistant prion protein (PrP). If similar asymptomatic carriers of infection arise after exposure of humans or animals to BSE, this could markedly increase the danger of additional spread of BSE or vCJD infection by contaminated blood, surgical instruments, or meat. If such subclinical carriers were negative for protease-resistant PrP, similar to our mice, then the recently proposed screening of brain, tonsils, or other tissues of animals and humans by present methods such as immunoblotting or immunohistochemistry might be too insensitive to identify these individuals.     

Susceptibility of sheep for scrapie as assessed by in vitro conversion of nine naturally occurring variants of PrP

Polymorphisms in the prion protein (PrP) gene are associated with phenotypic expression differences of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in animals and humans. In sheep, at least 10 different mutually exclusive polymorphisms are present in PrP. In this study, we determined the efficiency of the in vitro formation of protease-resistant PrP of nine sheep PrP allelic variants in order to gauge the relative susceptibility of sheep for scrapie. No detectable spontaneous protease-resistant PrP formation occurred under the cell-free conditions used. All nine host-encoded cellular PrP (PrP(C)) variants had distinct conversion efficiencies induced by PrP(Sc) isolated from sheep with three different homozygous PrP genotypes. In general, PrP allelic variants with polymorphisms at either codon 136 (Ala to Val) or codon 141 (Leu to Phe) and phylogenetic wild-type sheep PrP(C) converted with highest efficiency to protease-resistant forms, which indicates a linkage with a high susceptibility of sheep for scrapie. PrP(C) variants with polymorphisms at codons 171 (Gln to Arg), 154 (Arg to His), and to a minor extent 112 (Met to Thr) converted with low efficiency to protease-resistant isoforms. This finding indicates a linkage of these alleles with a reduced susceptibility or resistance for scrapie. In addition, PrP(Sc) with the codon 171 (Gln-to-His) polymorphism is the first variant reported to induce higher conversion efficiencies with heterologous rather than homologous PrP variants. The results of this study strengthen our views on polymorphism barriers and have further implications for scrapie control programs by breeding strategies.     

Multiple amino acid residues within the rabbit prion protein inhibit formation of its abnormal isoform

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are neurological diseases that are associated with the conversion of the normal host-encoded prion protein (PrP-sen) to an abnormal protease-resistant form, PrP-res. Transmission of the TSE agent from one species to another is usually inefficient and accompanied by a prolonged incubation time. Species barriers to infection by the TSE agent are of particular importance given the apparent transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans. Among the few animal species that appear to be resistant to infection by the TSE agent are rabbits. They survive challenge with the human kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob agents as well as with scrapie agent isolated from sheep or mice. Species barriers to the TSE agent are strongly influenced by the PrP amino acid sequence of both the donor and recipient animals. Here we show that rabbit PrP-sen does not form PrP-res in murine tissue culture cells persistently infected with the mouse-adapted scrapie agent. Unlike other TSE species barriers that have been studied, critical amino acid residues that inhibit PrP-res formation are located throughout the rabbit PrP sequence. Our results suggest that the resistance of rabbits to infection by the TSE agent is due to multiple rabbit PrP-specific amino acid residues that result in a PrP structure that is unable to refold to the abnormal isoform associated with disease.     

Scrapie replication in lymphoid tissues depends on prion protein-expressing follicular dendritic cells.

The immune system is central in the pathogenesis of scrapie and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or 'prion' diseases. After infecting by peripheral (intraperitoneal or oral) routes, most TSE agents replicate in spleen and lymph nodes before neuroinvasion. Characterization of the cells supporting replication in these tissues is essential to understanding early pathogenesis and may indicate potential targets for therapy, for example, in 'new variant' Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The host 'prion' protein (PrP) is required for TSE agent replication and accumulates in modified forms in infected tissues. Abnormal PrP is detected readily on follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) in lymphoid tissues of patients with 'new variant' Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, sheep with natural scrapie and mice experimentally infected with scrapie. The normal protein is present on FDCs in uninfected mice and, at lower levels, on lymphocytes. Studies using severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice, with and without bone marrow (BM) grafts, have indicated involvement of FDCs and/or lymphocytes in scrapie pathogenesis. To clarify the separate roles of FDCs and lymphocytes, we produced chimeric mice with a mismatch in PrP status between FDCs and other cells of the immune system, by grafting bone marrow from PrP-deficient knockout mice into PrP-expressing mice and vice versa. Using these chimeric models, we obtained strong evidence that FDCs themselves produce PrP and that replication of a mouse-passaged scrapie strain in spleen depends on PrP-expressing FDCs rather than on lymphocytes or other bone marrow-derived cells.     

Markedly increased susceptibility to natural sheep scrapie of transgenic mice expressing ovine prp

The susceptibility of sheep to scrapie is known to involve, as a major determinant, the nature of the prion protein (PrP) allele, with the VRQ allele conferring the highest susceptibility to the disease. Transgenic mice expressing in their brains three different ovine PrP(VRQ)-encoding transgenes under an endogenous PrP-deficient genetic background were established. Nine transgenic (tgOv) lines were selected and challenged with two scrapie field isolates derived from VRQ-homozygous affected sheep. All inoculated mice developed neurological signs associated with a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) disease and accumulated a protease-resistant form of PrP (PrPres) in their brains. The incubation duration appeared to be inversely related to the PrP steady-state level in the brain, irrespective of the transgene construct. The survival time for animals from the line expressing the highest level of PrP was reduced by at least 1 year compared to those of two groups of conventional mice. With one isolate, the duration of incubation was as short as 2 months, which is comparable to that observed for the rodent TSE models with the briefest survival times. No survival time reduction was observed upon subpassaging of either isolate, suggesting no need for adaptation of the agent to its new host. Overexpression of the transgene was found not to be required for transmission to be accelerated compared to that observed with wild-type mice. Conversely, transgenic mice overexpressing murine PrP were found to be less susceptible than tgOv lines expressing ovine PrP at physiological levels. These data argue that ovine PrP(VRQ) provided a better substrate for sheep prion replication than did mouse PrP. Altogether, these tgOv mice could be an improved model for experimental studies on natural sheep scrapie.     

Effect of amphotericin B on wild-type and mutated prion proteins in cultured cells: putative mechanism of action in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies form a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders that have the unique property of being infectious, sporadic, or genetic in origin. Although some doubts remain on the nature of the responsible agent of these diseases, it is clear that a protein called PrP(Sc) [the scrapie isoform of prion protein (PrP)] plays a central role. PrP(Sc) represents a conformational variant of PrP(C) (the cellular isoform of PrP), the normal host protein. Polyene antibiotics, such as amphotericin B, have been shown to delay the accumulation of PrP(Sc) and to increase the incubation time of the disease after experimental transmission in laboratory animals. Unlike agents such as Congo red, the inhibitory effect of amphotericin B on PrP(Sc) generation has not been observed in infected cultures. Using transfected cells expressing wild-type or mutated mouse PrPs, we show here that amphotericin B is able to interfere with the generation of abnormal PrP isoforms in culture. Its action seems related to a modification of PrP trafficking through the association of this glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein with detergent-resistant microdomains. These results represent a first step toward the comprehension of the mechanism of action of amphotericin B in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.