Although the discovery of the prion protein (PrP) resulted from its co-purification with scrapie infectivity in Syrian hamsters, work with genetically defined and genetically modified mice proved crucial for understanding the fundamental processes involved not only in prion diseases caused by PrP misfolding, aggregation, and spread but also in other, much more common, neurodegenerative brain diseases. In this review, we focus on methodological and conceptual approaches used to study scrapie and related PrP misfolding diseases in mice and how these approaches have advanced our understanding of related disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a023549 | DOI Listing |
PLoS Pathog
January 2025
Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain.
Prion diseases, particularly sporadic cases, pose a challenge due to their complex nature and heterogeneity. The underlying mechanism of the spontaneous conversion from PrPC to PrPSc, the hallmark of prion diseases, remains elusive. To shed light on this process and the involvement of cofactors, we have developed an in vitro system that faithfully mimics spontaneous prion misfolding using minimal components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Cell Neurosci
January 2025
Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, United States.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, fatal, rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease resulting from an accumulation of misfolded prion proteins (PrP). CJD affects 1-2 new individuals per million each year, and the sporadic type accounts for 90% of those cases. Though the median age at onset and disease duration vary depending on the subtype of sporadic CJD (sCJD), the disease typically affects middle-aged to elderly individuals with a median survival of 4-6 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Med
January 2025
Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Prion disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by the misfolding of prion protein (PrP) encoded by the PRNP gene. While there is currently no cure for the disease, depleting PrP in the brain is an established strategy to prevent or stall templated misfolding of PrP. Here we developed in vivo cytosine and adenine base strategies delivered by adeno-associated viruses to permanently modify the PRNP locus to achieve PrP knockdown in the mouse brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Res
January 2025
UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
Misfolding of the cellular PrP (PrP) protein causes prion disease, leading to neurodegenerative disorders in numerous mammalian species, including goats. A lack of PrP induces complete resistance to prion disease. The aim of this work was to engineer Alpine goats carrying knockout (KO) alleles of PRNP, the PrP-encoding gene, using CRISPR/Cas9-ribonucleoproteins and single-stranded donor oligonucleotides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall
January 2025
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 335 Science Road, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
The self-replication of misfolded prion protein (PrP) aggregates is the major pathological event of different prion diseases, affecting mammal brains by cross-species transmission. Here, the structural modulation of PrP aggregates are reported by activated carbon materials upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. Activated carbon cobalt (ACC) nanosheets are synthesized using glycerol and metal salts to utilize the charge carriers released under NIR light exposure.
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