|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Scripps Research Study Shows Infectious Prions Can Arise Spontaneously in Normal Brain Tissue (Metal Surfaces Spur Conversion of Normal Prion Protein into Disease-Causing Prions)
Listed On: Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Scripps Research Institute
|
|
|
JUPITER, FL, July 26, 2010 – In a startling new study that involved research on both sides of the Atlantic, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in Florida and the University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology in England have shown for the first time that abnormal prions ...Continue
|
|
|
Official URL: http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/20100726.html
|
|
|
Summary: In a startling new study that involved research on both sides of the Atlantic, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in Florida and the University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology in England have shown for the first time that abnormal prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, can suddenly erupt from healthy brain tissue. Surprisingly, according to the new research, wires coated with uninfected brain homogenate could also initiate prion disease in cell culture, which was transmissible to mice. It has been proposed that these events reflect rare, spontaneous formation of prions in brain. Infectious prions, which are composed solely of protein, are classified by distinct strains, originally characterized by their incubation time and the disease they cause. Mammalian cells normally produce harmless cellular prion protein (PrPC). Following prion infection, the abnormal or misfolded prion protein (PrPSc) converts PrPC into a likeness of itself, by causing it to change its conformation or shape. A Highly Sensitive Test: Using the Scrapie Cell Assay to measure infectivity of prion-coated wires, the team observed several unexpected instances of infectious prions in control groups where metal wires had been exposed only to uninfected normal mouse brain tissue. Weissmann and his colleagues in London found that when normal prion protein is coated onto steel wires and brought into contact with cultured cells, a small but significant proportion of the coated wires cause prion infection of the cells – and when transferred to mice, they continue to spawn the disease.
|
|
|
Email this article
|
|
|
|
|
|
