Prion News and Research

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Mad Cow disease strain found to be more virulent than classical strain

An atypical prion strain of mad cow disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BS, is more virulent than the classical strain, according to a researcher who spoke Nov. 14 at Kansas State University.

3 Dec 2008

Protein-misfolding accelerates yeast evolution

Under stress, yeast cells can unleash a remarkable mechanism based on protein-misfolding that gives them new characteristics without requiring genetic mutations.

28 Nov 2008

Mouse model of prion disease mimics diverse symptoms of human disorder

A comprehensive mouse model of inherited prion disease exhibits cognitive, motor, and neurophysiological deficits that bear a striking resemblance to the symptoms experienced by patients with the human version of "mad cow disease," Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

26 Nov 2008

Prion switching in response to environmental stress

If you have had a hard day at work, you may change your eating habits, perhaps favoring comfort food, but you don't suddenly develop the ability to eat the plate and cutlery.

24 Nov 2008

Bioinformatics lecturers enlist undergrads to tackle DNA annotation challenge

In this week's issue of PLoS Biology, a team of Marseilles University lecturers led by Pascal Hingamp, describe the Annotathon - an innovative bioinformatics teaching approach that appeals to undergraduate biology students.

24 Nov 2008

New molecules with many branches will help unleash potential of nanotechnology

Materials science and the pharmaceutical industry could soon be revolutionized by emerging nanotechnologies based on designer molecules with long complex tree-and branch structures. Such molecules offer almost limitless scope for design of bespoke compounds for specific applications in disease therapy, for novel materials such as resins, as well as electronic displays, and energy storage. Almost every field involving design and synthesis of chemical compounds will be transformed by the arrival of technologies allowing nanoscale design of these branched molecules, known as hyperbranched polymers.

26 Oct 2008

Worries over test for mad cow disease

A new test to screen blood for the incurable human form of mad cow disease could be available within 18 months, but it has raised concerns.

21 Oct 2008

Tracking down the cause of Mad Cow disease - first synthetic prion protein with an anchor

The cause of diseases such as BSE in cattle and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease in humans is a prion protein. This protein attaches to cell membranes by way of an anchor made of sugar and lipid components (a glycosylphosphatidylinositol, GPI) anchor. The anchoring of the prions seems to have a strong influence on the transformation of the normal form of the protein into its pathogenic form, which causes scrapie and mad cow disease.

12 Oct 2008

Magnetic resonance studies find clear differences between the structures of infectious and non-infectious prions

Infectious proteins known as prions have been identified as the cause of "mad cow" disease (BSE). The culprits are "incorrectly folded" proteins that can "infect" healthy proteins. The molecular bases for such prion diseases are not yet fully understood.

17 Jun 2008

Biopure Corporation wins European patent challenge

Biopure Corporation announced today that it has successfully defended a challenge at the European Patent Office (EPO) to its European Patent entitled, "A Method for Chromatographic Removal of Prions."

19 May 2008

An atomic view of protein behind hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy

For the first time, researchers have peered deeply at the atomic level into the protein that causes hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) -- a disease thought to cause stroke and dementia.

22 Apr 2008

Special filter quickly and effectively removes deadly vCJD protein from blood

Amid concern that recipients of certain blood transfusions may risk infection with a deadly protein responsible for the human form of mad cow disease, researchers in Canada now report development of a special filter that quickly and effectively removes the protein from blood.

9 Apr 2008

Prion diseases could be transmitted in sheep via milk

Scrapie can be transmitted to lambs through milk, according to new research published in the online open access journal BMC Veterinary Research.

8 Apr 2008

New insights into the diversity of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agents

Researchers from the United Kingdom and France have identified four separate biochemical subgroups in a selection of cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

18 Mar 2008

Prion infection of neurons increases the free cholesterol content in cell membranes

A new study published in the online open access journal BMC Biology suggests that disturbances in membrane cholesterol may be the mechanism by which prions cause neurodegeneration and could point to a role for cholesterol in other neurodegenerative diseases.

12 Feb 2008