Fig. 6
PrPSc fibril stability analyses. a Fibril stability curves. Representative fibril unfolding curves for the unfolding assay are shown as a smoothed trace of the fraction fibril as a function of GdnHCl concentration for bTME, o-bTMEVV, o-bTMEAV, C-BSE, and L-BSE. Only a single representative curve is shown here for clarity; the mean fibril midpoints shown in panel B are preferable for evaluating differences in the fibril stabilities. b Fibril folding midpoints. The fibril unfolding midpoints are shown for the indicated sample types (mean ± 95% CI). The midpoint is the concentration of GdnHCl resulting in a 0.5 fraction fibril remaining. Each mean was the determined from seven independent GdnHCl1/2 concentrations and measurements. c The fibril stability midpoints are plotted against the mean incubation periods for each inoculation group. Ovine passaged bTME isolates exhibited lower stabilities with longer incubation periods after first round transmission to TgBov mice. Bovine adapted TME, L-BSE, and C-BSE had higher fibril stabilities and shorter incubation periods compared to o-bTME