Some viral infections could increase intercellular spreading of protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative disorders, increasing the risk for developing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Cryogenic-electron microscopy allowed researchers to determine the basic building blocks of prion proteins, including the placements of their amino acids.
Study sheds light on what causes normal proteins to convert to a diseased form associated with CJD and Kuru.
Self-propagating amyloid and tau act as prions in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Higher levels of the prions in human brain samples were strongly correlated with early onset of Alzheimer's and death at a younger age.
Researchers have developed a new skin biopsy test that can detect prion infections in skin samples before symptoms of disease appear.
Researchers report human growth hormone, prepared from human tissue prior to 1985, may have been contaminated with seeds of the amyloid beta protein. In a new study, researchers injected mice with the original c-hGH batches containing amyloid beta which seeded amyloid pathology, even decades after storage. Findings support the hypothesis that the Alzheimer's causing proteins can be transmitted to from contaminated materials.
Researchers have successfully created a synthetic version of a human prion, a protein associated with brain wasting diseases like sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The prions may help shed new light on, and provide treatment options, for those with CJD and other prion related diseases.
Researchers have detected a prion protein associated with CJD on the skin of almost two dozen people who died from the disease. The findings raise questions as to whether transmission of the disease via skin transplantation may be possible, and whether a simple skin test could detect the disease.
Researchers detail the complex interaction between alpha synuclein and the prion protein PrPc.
Researchers from the University of Plymouth have discovered the tole PrPC plays in the development of neurofibromatosis 2 tumors. According to the study, the prion protein is overproduced in schwannomas, compared with healthy Schwann cells. This overproduction is a result of Merlin deficiency and contributed to tumor growth in NF2 patients.
A new study reports M cells found in the lining of the gut can help to protect the against prion infections.
A new fruit fly model in development could lead to low cost blood tests to help diagnose a deadly prion disease.
