Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an efficiently transmitted spongiform encephalopathy of cervids. Whether CWD could represent a threat to non-cervid species remains speculative. Here we show that brain homogenates from several CWD-susceptible non-cervid species, such as ferrets and hamsters, support amplification of PrPCWD by sPMCA, whereas brain homogenates from CWD-resistant species, such as laboratory mice and transgenic mice expressing human PrPC [Tg(HuPrP) mice], do not. We also investigated whether several North American species that share the environment with cervids would support amplification of PrPCWD by sPMCA. Three native rodent species, including voles and field mice, supported PrPCWD amplification, whereas other species (e.g. prairie dog, coyote) did not. Analysis of PrP sequences suggests that an ability to support amplification of PrPCWD in trans-species sPMCA is correlated with the presence of asparagine at position 170 of the substrate species PrP. Serial PMCA may offer insights into species barriers to transmission of CWD.
