Potential for future prevention of prion conversion and disease using heparin

Prions are infectious agents responsible for neurodegenerative diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalitis (commonly known as "mad cow disease") and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.Since the discovery in the 60s that an incurable and fatal disease could be caused by an infectious agent formed by nothing but converted misfolded proteins, the mechanisms responsible for the conversion of a normal prion protein into its infectious counterpart - the scrapie prion - have been relentlessly investigated.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease Source Type: news