Effects of Congenital Infection of Sheep with Border Disease Virus on Myelin Proteins

Abstract— Border disease (BD) of sheep is caused by a virus in the genus Pestivirus that results in decreased myelination throughout the CMS when acquired congenitally. Pregnant ewes were inoculated with BD virus at 50 days of gestation, and myelin proteins were quantified in several regions of the CNS during prenatal and postnatal development of infected lambs for comparison with age-matched controls. Newborn field-infected lambs were also examined. Myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP), myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP) were measured by densitometric scanning of western blots. Deficiencies in the myelin proteins were detected as early as 116 days of gestation, and the deficiencies of myelin proteins were most pronounced in the cerebellum at all ages examined. PLP and MBP increased from 10–30% of normal in cerebellar white matter at birth to 40–60% of normal at 6 months, suggesting some catch-up in the amount of compact myelin with development. MAG and CNP were between 70 and 80% of control levels in the cerebellum at birth and at 6 months. Similar results were obtained for the corpus callosum and spinal cord of infected lambs, but the deficiencies of myelin proteins were not as great. A common finding in all regions examined was that MBP and PLP were reduced more than MAG and CNP. This is probably explained by a greater deficit of compact myelin, in which MBP and PLP are localized, than of associated oli-godendroglial membranes, in which MAG and CNP are concentrated. Similar results have been obtained in several dysmyelinating mutants, pointing to common factors in virally and genetically caused hypomyelination. Key Words: Border disease—Myelin—Hypomyelination—Development—Sheeo.