The prion protein (PrP) has been implicated both in prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, where its monomeric cellular isoform (PrP(C)) is recruited into pathogenic self-propagating polymers of misfolded protein, and in Alzheimer disease, where PrP(C) may act as a receptor for synaptotoxic oligomeric forms of amyloid-β (Aβ). There has been considerable interest in identification of compounds that bind to PrP(C), stabilizing its native fold and thereby acting as pharmacological chaperones to block prion propagation and pathogenesis. However, compounds binding PrP(C) could also inhibit the binding of toxic Aβ species and may have a role in treating Alzheimer disease, a highly prevalent dementia for which there are currently no disease-modifying treatments.
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