When prions are 'good for the brain'

• Autores: Stu Hutson
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2539, 2006, pág. 12
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Prion proteins that play a key role in diseases such as BSE in cattle and vCJD in humans might have a benign alter ego. In their normal form, they may help the development of a healthy nervous system. Now, Andrew Steele at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge MA and Jason Emsley at Massachusetts General Hospital have found that prions act as a type of molecular "gas pedal" for the rudimentary stem cells that turn into the different types of neurons in the brain.