Steel wires promote the formation of prions
JUL 27, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024534
Nature : Prions are particles of misfolded proteins that cause several neurodegenerative diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cows, scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans. Although those diseases can be transmitted by ingesting prions, what causes prions to form in the first place is a mystery. Now, as Nature‘s Daniel Cressey reports, a team from London has demonstrated that prions will form spontaneously in the presence of steel wires. Previously, the wires had been used to collect already-formed prions. Two possibilities appear to account for the observation: Either the wires catalyze prion formation or, by concentrating prions, the wires tip an otherwise equal balance between spontaneous formation and degradation toward formation.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
