Type I interferon protects neurons from prions in in vivo models

Ishibashi, Daisuke; Homma, Takujiro; Nakagaki, Takehiro; Fuse, Takayuki; Sano, Kazunori; Satoh, Katsuya; Mori, Tsuyoshi; Atarashi, Ryuichiro; Nishida, Noriyuki

All animal experiments were conducted with approval from Nagasaki University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC, approval No. 150371202 ) and the Safety Committee for Recombinant DNA Experiments (approval No. 1503311317 ). The animals were cared for following the Nagasaki University Guidelines for Animal Experimentation. Animals C57BL/6 J mice were purchased from SLC Japan. Tga20 mice overexpressing normal PrP C were provided by Prof. M. Horiuchi, Hokkaido University, Japan (Fischer et al., 1996) . Interferon alpha/beta receptor 1 (Ifnar1) knockout mice were provided by Prof. T. Taniguchi and Dr K. Honda (Current affiliation: Keio University, Professor), The University of Tokyo, Japan (Muller et al., 1994) . All animals were maintained in a pathogen-free environment, at a temperature of 22 AE 2 C and humidity of 40 to 70%; food and autoclaved water were available ad libitum. Mice were periodically inspected for hantavirus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, Sendai virus, parainfluenza virus type 3, pneumonia virus of mice, rat coronavirus, Mycoplasma pulmonis, and Clostridium piliforme, and results were consistently negative.