Prying Prions
We’re all made up of thousands upon thousands of cells. Each one of these cells contains proteins – insulin, histone and haemoglobin are just a few you may have heard of. Proteins are essential for repairing and making cells and play a vital role in growth, so…pretty important, right? Proteins are responsible for the majority of cellular activity, including cell shape, waste clearance and organization. Despite proteins being key to staying well, some proteins do not have positive effects on the body. In this article I will be focusing on prions: a malicious form of protein that characterize a range of neurodegenerative diseases in both humans and animals. Prions are a form of misfolded protein, it is their ability to transmit their abnormal shape onto normal variants of the same protein that can lead to neurodegeneration. To put it simply, prions have the ability to trigger normal, healthy proteins in the brain to fold in abnormal ways. We regularly hear of bacteria and viruses...
