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prions

·August 28, 2021·4 min read

First Atomic-Level Imaging of Lethal Prions Provide Sharpened Focus for Potential Treatments

Cryogenic-electron microscopy allowed researchers to determine the basic building blocks of prion proteins, including the placements of their amino acids.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 17, 2021·5 min read

Unraveling the Origin of Alzheimer’s Disease

Study reveals the surface features of human prions responsible for their replication in the brain. The findings provide a template to identify structurally important sites on other misfolded proteins, such as those associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·March 15, 2021·3 min read

Crucial Step in Formation of Deadly Brain Diseases Discovered

Study sheds light on what causes normal proteins to convert to a diseased form associated with CJD and Kuru.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·May 1, 2019·9 min read

Alzheimer’s disease is a ‘double-prion disorder’

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.

Featured Neurology Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 22, 2019·5 min read

Skin Test Detects Prion Infection Before Symptoms Appear

Researchers have developed a new skin biopsy test that can detect prion infections in skin samples before symptoms of disease appear.

Featured Genetics Neurology Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 6, 2018·5 min read

First Artificial Human Prion Created

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.

Featured Neurology

·November 22, 2017·5 min read

Prion Protein in Skin of CJD Patients

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.