The Up Side Of Prions

Prions, the infamous agents behind mad cow disease and its human variation, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, also have a helpful side. According to new findings from Gerald Zamponi and colleagues, normally functioning prions prevent neurons from working themselves to death. The findings appear in the Journal of Cell Biology. Diseases such as mad cow result when the prion protein adopts an abnormal conformation.

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Filed under: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease on July 31st, 2008