How antiprion antibodies cause neurodegeneration

It has been suggested that antibodies against prion protein might have therapeutic value. However, a study in this week's Nature shows that many antiprion antibodies cause neurotoxicity and also reveals the mechanism underlying these observations. The prion protein - which in a misfolded form is associated with neurotoxic effects such as those seen in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - contains a globular domain and a flexible tail. Aguzzi and colleagues show that antibodies against the globular domain cause neurotoxicity in mice and cerebellar cultured slices...
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease Source Type: news