The Study on Prion Gene Tissue-specific Expression of Golden Hamster

Golden hamster is one of the favored experimental models for studying mechanisms of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). We used the real-time fluorescent RT-PCR technique, constructing the standard plasmid and curve to quantify the PrP gene expression. Total RNA was isolated from four different regions of the brain and six peripheral organs to quantify the gene expression after the reverse transcript. The results showed that high mRNA levels were present in all four regions of the brain examined. In peripheral organs examined, inguinal lymph node showed high level of expression similar to that in brain, spleen, heart, liver and lung showed moderate levels of the expression and kidney showed the lowest expression. Our results provided the basic data of the function of the PrP~c and the effection of different organs in prion diseases.