The gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT) comprise a collection of multifollicular structures, including the tonsils, Peyer's patches, appendix, colonic and cecal ...SkiptomaincontentPrionsTheGut-AssociatedLymphoidTissuesintheSmallIntestine,NottheLargeIntestine,PlayaMajorRoleinOralPrionDiseasePathogenesisDavidS.Donaldson,KathrynJ.Else,NeilA.MabbottB.Caughey,EditorDavidS.DonaldsonaTheRoslinInstitute&Royal(Dick)SchoolofVeterinarySciences,UniversityofEdinburgh,EasterBush,UnitedKingdomFindthisauthoronGoogleScholarFindthisauthoronPubMedSearchforthisauthoronthissiteKathrynJ.ElsebFacultyofLifeSciences,UniversityofManchester,Manchester,UnitedKingdomFindthisauthoronGoogleScholarFindthisauthoronPubMedSearchforthisauthoronthissiteNeilA.MabbottaTheRoslinInstitute&Royal(Dick)SchoolofVeterinarySciences,UniversityofEdinburgh,EasterBush,UnitedKingdomFindthisauthoronGoogleScholarFindthisauthoronPubMedSearchforthisauthoronthissiteORCIDrecordforNeilA.MabbottB.CaugheyRoles:EditorFindthisauthoronGoogleScholarFindthisauthoronPubMedSearchforthisauthoronthissiteDOI: 10.1128/JVI.01544-15ArticleFigures&DataInfo&MetricsPDFABSTRACTPriondiseasesareinfectiousneurodegenerativedisorderscharacterizedbyaccumulationsofabnormallyfoldedcellularprionproteininaffectedtissues.Manynaturalpriondiseasesareacquiredorally,andfollowingexposure,theearlyreplicationofsomeprionisolatesuponfolliculardendriticcells(FDC)withingut-associatedlymphoidtissues(GALT)isimportantfortheefficientspreadofdiseasetothebrain(neuroinvasion).PriondetectionwithinlargeintestinalGALTbiopsyspecimenshasbeenusedtoestimatehumanandanimaldiseaseprevalence.However,therelativecontributionsofthesmallandlargeintestinalGALTtooralprionpathogenesiswereunknown.Toaddressthisissue,wecreatedmicethatspecificallylackedFDC-containingGALTonlyinthesmallintestine.OurdatashowthatoralpriondiseasesusceptibilitywasdramaticallyreducedinmicelackingsmallintestinalGALT.AlthoughthesemicehadFDC-containingGALTthroughouttheirlargeintestines,thesetissueswerenotearlysites