Fig. 3
From: Vertical transmission of chronic wasting disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer populations
Infectious CWD prions present in white-tailed deer maternal reproductive and fetal tissues determined by mouse bioassay. Cervidized (TgCerPrP−E2265037+/−) mice were inoculated with 10− 4 dilutions of uterus or placentome intracranially (uterus: n = 12 mice; placentome: n = 35 mice) or fetal thymus or fetal brain intraperitoneally (thymus: n = 8 mice; brain: n = 11 mice). Terminal mouse brains were tested by conventional RT-QuIC for amyloid seeding activity. Amyloid formation displayed as reaction rates (1/time (t) to Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescent threshold). Horizontal lines represent the median (8 replicates per mouse). Mice inoculated with tissues from free-ranging negative control deer (uterus: n = 8 mice; placentome: n = 8 mice; thymus: n = 8 mice; brain: n = 6 mice; 8 replicates each) from Georgia served as negative controls. A Mann-Whitney unpaired t-test was used against negative controls to determine statistical significance. **** indicates a P value of < 0.0001.
