The misfolded infectious isoform of the prion protein (PrP Sc) is thought to replicate in an
autocatalytic manner by converting the cellular form (PrP C) into its pathogenic folding
variant. The similarity in the amino acid sequence of PrP C and PrP Sc influences the
conversion efficiency and is considered as the major determinant for the species barrier. We
performed in vitro conversion reactions on wild-type and mutated PrP C to determine the
role of the primary sequence for the high susceptibility of bank voles to scrapie. Different …