Molecular Model of Prion Transmission to Humans

Abstract

To assess interspecies barriers to transmission of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, we investigated the ability of disease-associated prion proteins (PrPd) to initiate conversion of the human normal cellular form of prion protein of the 3 major PRNP polymorphic variants in vitro. Protein misfolding cyclic amplification showed that conformation of PrPd partly determines host susceptibility.

Keywords

• Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy
• disease transmission
• model system
• prions
• amino acid sequence
• conformation