Fig. 1

Chemiluminescence of surface-bound PrP on stainless steel wires exposed to brain or brain homogenates. Stainless steel wire segments were transiently inserted into brains (“dipped”) or incubated with 10% brain homogenates (homogenate) from PrP knockout mice (Prnp^0/0), uninfected (Tga20) and RML-infected, terminally sick Tga20 mice (RML-Tga20). Wires were washed, treated with anti-PrP antibody 6H4 and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgG1 antibody, and chemiluminescence was determined. The dotted line indicates the background level, given by reagents alone (reagent). Averages and standard deviations were calculated from three samples each. RLU, relative light units.