Prion News and Research

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Fat droplets play protective role inside cells

Too much body fat may be a bad thing, but there is increasing evidence that too little fat also may have some surprisingly negative consequences.

19 Sep 2006

New aspect of prion disease - agent causes heart damage

Until now, prion disease has been thought of as a chronic neurological condition.

9 Jul 2006

New discovery boosts basic understanding of prion infections

Brittleness is often seen as a sign of fragility. But in the case of infectious proteins called prions, brittleness makes for a tougher, more menacing pathogen.

28 Jun 2006

The protein that makes you mad

In recent years our feeding habits have been the focus of ongoing polemics. Everybody will remember the "mad cow" crisis.

26 Jun 2006

No prion diseases found in German deer

Presently, there is no evidence of prion diseases in free-living German cervids.

19 Jun 2006

New human genotype may be prone to vCJD

A small study in the British Medical Journal suggests a new human genotype may be prone to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

6 Jun 2006

vCJD may have infected far more people than previously thought

Scientists at the National CJD Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh say that thousands may be infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) without showing signs or symptoms.

21 May 2006

Certain soil types serve as natural prion repositories in the wild

Scientists have confirmed that prions, the mysterious proteins thought to cause chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer, latch on tightly to certain minerals in soil and remain infectious.

18 Apr 2006

Transportation of prion protein across the intestinal mucosa of scrapie-susceptible and scrapie-resistant sheep

While newly published research confirms that under laboratory circumstances prion-protein can be absorbed across the gut, it also shows that this is unlikely to occur in real life.

4 Apr 2006

New evidence questions the simple link between prion proteins and vCJD

While newly published research confirms that under laboratory circumstances prion-protein can be absorbed across the gut, it also shows that this is unlikely to occur in real life.

30 Mar 2006

New way of targeting proteins to exosomes - potential for melanoma, Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how a protein called Pmel17 is sorted by pigment cells in the skin and eye to make a fiber matrix that eventually sequesters melanin, the dark pigment found in skin, hair, and eyes.

28 Mar 2006

Successful cell engineering may prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

Researchers at Texas A&M University have successfully "knocked down" the expression of possible disease-causing genes in a cloned goat fetus, perhaps paving the way for breeding disease resistance in other animals, even those genes that might cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as Mad Cow Disease.

23 Mar 2006

New test for detecting small amounts of proteins in the blood

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed a paradigm-shifting method for detecting small amounts of proteins in the blood.

13 Mar 2006

Genesis bioventures announces worldwide distribution rights for rapid prion-detection technology

Genesis Bioventures, Inc. has announced that the Company has signed exclusive worldwide sales, marketing and distribution agreements with Prion Developmental Laboratories Inc. (PDL) to commercialize the recently patented Rapid Prion-Detection Assay tests developed by PDL.

7 Feb 2006

Mad cow proteins also maintain stem cells

What do mad cow disease and stem cell research have in common? Whitehead Institute scientists have found that the same protein that causes neurodegenerative conditions such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) is also important for helping certain adult stem cells maintain themselves.

7 Feb 2006

Prion protein codon 129 genotype prevalence is altered in primary progressive aphasia

Most people with a rare type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA) have a specific combination of prion gene variants, a new study shows.

28 Nov 2005

Chronic Wasting Disease in deer and humans

Researchers at Binghamton University have a first-ever opportunity to determine if Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer can be spread to humans who ingest "infected" meat.

26 Nov 2005

Resveratrol effective in lowering amyloid-beta peptides

A study published in the November 11 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and red wine, lowers the levels of the amyloid-beta peptides which cause the telltale senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease.

7 Nov 2005

Protein involved in 'mad cow' disease

The journal Brain Research has recently published the results of research work by scientists from the University of Navarra.

18 Oct 2005

Prions rapidly 'remodel' good protein into bad

Two Brown Medical School biologists have figured out the fate of healthy protein when it comes in contact with the infectious prion form in yeast: The protein converts to the prion form, rendering it infectious. In an instant, good protein goes bad.

19 Sep 2005