Our results demonstrate that the ME7 scrapie strain used in the present study is appropriate for generating a mouse model of prion disease via structural changes from PrPC to PrPSc, as indicated in the brain and BM; moreover, ME7-infected mice beyond 5 months post-injection provide a reasonable mouse model for investigating how ME7 infection directly affects PrPC-expressing HSPCs. The gene discussed is PRNP; the disease is scrapie.