Recent Advances in the Immunity Research of Rabbits to Prion Diseases

The rabbit prions were developed using the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique; rabbit brain homogenate, either unseeded or seeded in vitro with disease-related prions obtained from different species, was subjected to serial rounds of PMCA [1]. De novo rabbit prions produced in vitro from unseeded material were tested for infectivity in rabbits, with one of three intra-cerebrally challenged animals succumbing to disease at 766 d and displaying all of the characteristics of a TSE, thereby demonstrating that leporids are not resistant to prion infection [1]. Material from the brain of the clinically affected rabbit containing abnormal prion protein resulted in a 100% attack rate after its inoculation in transgenic mice over expressing rabbit PrP (RaPrP); transmissibility to rabbits (>470 d) has been confirmed in 2 of 10 rabbits after intracerebral challenge [1]. But at the end the authors declared despite rabbits no longer being able to be classified as resistant to TSEs, an outbreak of “mad rabbit disease” is unlikely [1].