J Virol Methods 2002 May;103(1):89-99
Trottier M, Schlitt BP, Lipton HL.
Department of Neurology, Evanston Hospital, 2650 Ridge Avenue, 60201,
Evanston, IL, USA
Infection of mice by low-neurovirulence Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), such as BeAn and DA viruses, provides a relevant experimental animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS).
As a step toward determining the kinetics of a persistent central nervous system (CNS) infection that leads to chronic demyelination, we adapted a rapid, accurate and highly specific real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for detection and quantitation of BeAn virus RNA copy equivalents in mouse tissues.
The assay enabled detection of as few as 20-30 copies of BeAn virus RNA per &mgr;g of total RNA from infected mouse tissues and results for spinal cord revealed the same high levels of BeAn RNA as detected by Northern hybridization during the first 4 months of the persistent infection, but also was able to detect virus RNA copies as late as 1 year post-infection.
Real-time RT-PCR analysis of BeAn virus RNA copy equivalents in different parts of the CNS, analyses not possible by Northern hybridization, revealed the following cline of virus persistence: spinal cord>brainstem/cerebellum>cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)>cerebral hemispheres.
Systemic organs, including heart, intestine and mesenteric lymph nodes of infected mice, showed no evidence of viral persistence at 4 months post-infection.