Increase in CD230 (cellular prion protein) fluorescence on blood lymphocytes in bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected nonhuman primates.

Background: The cellular prion protein (PrP(c)) plays a central role in prion diseases such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This disease can be transmitted by blood transfusion. However, the exact kinetics of blood infectivity and the blood fraction carrying infectivity have not yet been identified.