title: Insights into Mechanisms of Chronic Neurodegeneration.
abstract: Chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and prion diseases are characterised by the accumulation of abnormal conformers of a host encoded protein in the central nervous system. The process leading to neurodegeneration is still poorly defined and thus development of early intervention strategies is challenging. Unique amongst these diseases are Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases, which have the ability to transmit between individuals. The infectious nature of these diseases has permitted in vivo and in vitro modelling of the time course of the disease process in a highly reproducible manner, thus early events can be defined. Recent evidence has demonstrated that the cell-to-cell spread of protein aggregates by a "prion-like mechanism" is common among the protein misfolding diseases. Thus, the TSE models may provide insights into disease mechanisms and testable hypotheses for disease intervention, applicable to a number of these chronic neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. abigail.diack@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Abigail B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Diack
authors.affiliation: National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH8 9JU, UK. james.alibhai@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Alibhai
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. rona.barron@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Rona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barron
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. barry.bradford@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bradford
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. pedro.piccardo@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piccardo
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. jean.manson@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jean C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Manson
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011328:Prions / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding
chemical_list: D011328:Prions
keywords: neurodegeneration; prion; protein misfolding; proteinopathies; transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE)