Fibronectin: a natural barrier against prion infection
Authors: Garza M Carmen , Kang Sang Gyun , Kim Chiye , Monleón Eva , van der Merwe Jacques , Kramer David A. , Fahlman Richard , Sim Valerie , Aiken Judd , McKenzie Debbie , Cortez Leonardo M. , Wille Holger 
Published: September 2023

A distinctive signature of the prion diseases is the accumulation of the pathogenic isoform of the prion protein, PrPSc, in the central nervous system of prion-affected humans and animals. PrPScis also found in peripheral tissues, raising concerns about the potential transmission of pathogenic prions through human food supplies and posing a significant risk to public health. Although muscle tissues are considered to contain levels of low prion infectivity, it has been shown that myotubes in culture efficiently propagate PrPSc. Given the high consumption of muscle tissue, it is important to understand what factors could influence the establishment of a prion infection in muscle tissue. Here we usedin vitromyotube cultures, differentiated from the C2C12 myoblast cell line (dC2C12), to identify factors affecting prion replication. A range of experimental conditions revealed that PrPScis tightly associated with proteins found in the systemic extracellular matrix (ECM), mostly fibronectin (FN). The interaction of PrPScwith FN decreased prion infectivity, as determined by standard scrapie cell assay. Interestingly, the prion-resistant reserve cells in dC2C12 cultures displayed a FN-rich ECM while the prion-susceptible myotubes expressed FN at a low level. In agreement with thein vitroresults, immunohistopathological analyses of tissues from sheep infected with natural scrapie demonstrated a prion susceptibility phenotype linked to an extracellular matrix with undetectable levels of FN. Conversely, PrPScdeposits were not observed in tissues expressing FN. These data indicate that extracellular FN may act as a natural barrier against prion replication and that the extracellular matrix composition may be a crucial feature determining prion tropism in different tissues.

Author summary

Prion diseases are complex fatal neurodegenerative disorders caused by a misfolded form of the cellular protein PrPC(PrPSc). Due to the potential zoonotic transmission of these disorders through animal-based food intake, it is crucial to identify the tissues in which PrPSccan accumulate and what might influence its tropism. Animal muscle (or meat) and related food products are highly consumed, raising concern of the involvement of muscle cells in prion replication. Muscle tissue from prion-affected animals contains low levels of infectivity and PrPScis mostly associated with nerve structures rather than myofibers, whereas C2C12 myotubes, a muscle-derived cell type, efficiently replicate prionsin vitroand generate high levels of infectivity compared with other cell cultures. We demonstrate a fibronectin-mediated interference with prion infection in differentiated C2C12 cultures that correlates with the findings in tissues from naturally scrapie-infected animals. Our results suggest that extracellular matrix composition, specifically regarding the presence of fibronectin, might determine prion tropism and dissemination.