PrPC: Proteins and Enzymes

Prion diseases are transmissible neurodegenerative disorders which affect a range of mammalian species. In humans they can be inherited and sporadic as well as acquired by exposure to human prions. Prions appear to be composed principally of a conformational isomer of host-encoded prion protein and propagate by recruitment of cellular prion protein (1). The function of the cellular prion protein (PrP) is still poorly understood. It has been proposed that one unprecedented role for PrP is ...