Protein involved in mad cow diseaseOctober 19, 2005The scientific magazine Brain Research has recently published the results of research work by scientists from the University of Navarra. The work describes the presence and location of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) in the brain of the rat and characterises the neurones expressed therein, above all within the cerebral cortex of this rodent. The authors are José Luis Velayos and Francisco José Moleres, research scientists at the Department of Anatomy at the University of Navarra. The PrPC is a normal physiological protein, especially present in the central nervous system, including that of the human, with functions that are little known as yet. Altered prionic proteins, pathogens, infectants, i.e. prions, are responsible for spongiform encephalopathies, amongst these being bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease). In order to operate, prions require the presence of the PrPC. Thus, the importance of this investigation for the location of the PrPC in the central nervous system. Knowing where in the central nervous system the prions operate Locating the PrPC meant being able to identify which places in the central nervous system the prions operate. The findings enabled the research team to establish that the PrPC is a protein involved in the neuronal metabolism of calcium. Moreover, the existence of neurones without PrPC and surrounded by perineuronal nests breaks with the hypothesis, to date, that the disappearance of such nests - a special form of extracellular matrix - is a primary event in the course of spongiform encephalopathies; rather it is secondary event. According to the researchers' observations, the loss of these nests and consequent neuronal death are due to the damage produced after the appearance of the prions in the brain, where they act upon such perineuronal nests, amongst other structures. According to the researchers' comments, extrapolating these results from the rat to the human is valid, given that similar results had been obtained after carrying out the study on human brains. Moreover, this work and others carried out on the brains of the autochthonous Pyrenees breed of cow will help to explain the operating mechanisms of the prions in bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This study, published in Brain Research, is an addition to the work of the Department of Pathological Histology and Anatomy at the University of Navarra regarding the manner in which prions enter the digestive tube of bovine animals, from which organ they enter the central nervous system, causing the mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Elhuyar Fundazioa |
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| Related Mad Cow Disease Current Events and Mad Cow Disease News Articles Scripps Florida scientists show 'lifeless' prions capable of evolutionary change and adaptation Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have determined for the first time that prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, are capable of Darwinian evolution. The Protein Srebp2 Drives Cholesterol Formation in Prion-Infected Neuronal Cells Which May Promote Prion-Dependent Diseases The regulating protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation, which prions need for their propagation, in prion-infected neuronal cells. Prion study reveals first direct information about the protein's molecular structure A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. U of T led research team uncovers evolutionary origins of prion disease gene A University of Toronto-led team has uncovered the evolutionary ancestry of the prion gene, which may reveal new understandings of how the prion protein causes diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow disease." Transhumance helps vulture conservation Researchers from the University of Segovia and the University of León have shown for the first time the close space-time relationship between the presence of the griffon vulture and transhumant sheep farming in mountain passes. IOM report released on species-jumping diseases Significant weaknesses undermine the global community's abilities to prevent, detect early, and respond efficiently to potentially deadly species-crossing microbes, such as the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus sweeping the globe, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. Species barrier may protect macaques from chronic wasting disease Data from an ongoing multi-year study suggest that people who consume deer and elk with chronic wasting disease (CWD) may be protected from infection by an inability of the CWD infectious agent to spread to people. Study shows Chronix technology using serum DNA can identify early presence of disease Chronix Biomedical today reported that a new study in a peer-reviewed journal further confirms the potential diagnostic and prognostic utility of using circulating fragments of DNA to detect early stage disease. Farmed fish may pose risk for mad cow disease University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation's food supply. Scripps Florida scientists devise accelerated method to determine infectious prion strainsScripps Florida scientists devise accelerated method to determine infectious prion strains Current tests to identify specific strains of infectious prions, which cause a range of transmissible diseases (such as mad cow) in animals and humans, can take anywhere from six months to a year to yield results - a time-lag that may put human populations at risk. More Mad Cow Disease Current Events and Mad Cow Disease News Articles |
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