title: Prion infection: seeded fibrillization or more?
abstract: The prion infection is a conversion of host encoded prion protein (PrP) from its cellular isoform PrP(C) into the pathological and infectious isoform PrP(Sc); the conversion process was investigated by in vitro studies using recombinant and cellular PrP and natural PrP(Sc). We present a brief summary of the results determined with our in vitro conversion system and the derived mechanistic models. We describe well characterized intermediates and precursor states during the conversion process, kinetic studies of spontaneous and seeded fibrillogenesis and the impact of the membrane environment.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf & Institut für Biophysik und Neurowissenschaften, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Birkmann
authors.forename: Detlev
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Riesner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D018621:PrPC Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000635:transmission*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018621:PrPC Proteins; D018620:PrPSc Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins