Baixe o app para aproveitar ainda mais
Prévia do material em texto
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2011.02387.x Prions and protein-folding diseases E. Norrby FromtheCenter for theHistoryofScience,RoyalSwedishAcademyofSciences,Stockholm,Sweden Abstract. Norrby E (Royal Swedish Academy of Sci- ences, Stockholm, Sweden). Prions and protein- folding diseases (Review). J Intern Med 2011; 270: 1–14. Prions represent a group of proteins with a unique capacity to fold intodifferent conformations.One iso- form is rich in beta-pleated sheets and can aggregate into amyloid that may be pathogenic. This abnormal form propagates itself by imposing its confirmation on the homologous normal host cell protein. Patho- genic prions have been shown to cause lethal neuro- degenerativediseases inhumansandanimals.These diseasesaresometimes infectiousandhence referred to as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. In the present review, the remarkable evolution of the heterodoxprion concept is summarized. The origin of this phenomenon is based on information transfer between homologous proteins, without the involve- ment of nucleic acid-encoded mechanisms. Histori- cally,kuruandCreutzfeldt-Jakobdisease (CJD)were the first infectious prion diseases to be identified in man. It was their relationship to scrapie in sheep and experimental rodents that allowed an unravelling of the particular molecular mechanism that underlie the disease process. Transmission between humans has been documented to have occurred in particular contexts, including ritual cannibalism, iatrogenic transmission because of pituitary gland-derived growth hormone or the use in neurosurgical proce- dures of dura mater from cadavers, and the tempo- raryuseof aprion-contaminatedprotein-rich feed for cows. The latter caused a major outbreak of bovine spongiformencephalopathy,which spread tomanby human consumption of contaminatedmeat, causing approximately 200 cases of variant CJD. All these epidemicsnowappeartobeoverbecauseofmeasures takento curtail further spreadofprions.Recentstud- ies have shown that themechanism of protein aggre- gation may apply to a wider range of diseases in and possiblyalsooutside thebrain, someofwhichare rel- atively commonsuchasAlzheimer’s andParkinson’s diseases. Furthermore, it has become apparent that the phenomenon of prion aggregation may have a wider physiological importance, but a full under- standing of this remains to be defined. It may involve maintaining neuronal functions and possibly con- tributing to theestablishmentof long-termmemory. Keywords: iatrogenicdisease,prions,protein folding. Introduction The history of the identification of the infectious nat- ure of prion diseases and the discovery of the chemi- cal nature of this type of infectious agent is remark- able. The great advances in this field of research have been recognized by two Nobel Prizes in Physiol- ogy or Medicine: one in 1976 to D. Carleton Gajd- usek (a prize shared with Baruch S. Blumberg, for the discovery of hepatitis B virus) and the other in 1997 to Stanley B. Prusiner. Infectious prion dis- eases represent relatively rare phenomena mostly observed in the context of the spread of the agent by human intervention. However, the principal molecu- lar mechanisms that lead to disease may have appli- cations for a number of much more common non- contagious diseases. Two fundamental observations are relevant to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved. The first is that the same polypeptide chain, depending on the environmental conditions, including the possible presence of homologous proteins with a predetermined folding pattern, may take on dramatically altered folding. In certain cases, major aggregates of homologous pro- teins may be formed and such aggregates in turn may display cytopathogenic effects. A degenerative disease may ensue. The second relevant observation is that much still remains to be learnt about pro- tein-folding phenomena and the role of information transfer systems engaging only proteins. Many pro- teins have sequences of amino acids that make them potentially prionogenic. Such sequences that under certain circumstances may be the cause of disease in mammals can, in another context, play a central role in physiological functions, for example, as the source of epigenetic mechanisms of protein signalling of importance for the survival of yeast cells. ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine 1 Review | In this review, our emerging understanding of the mechanisms of prion diseaseswill first be discussed, in particular their uniquemechanisms of spread will be considered. The original belief in relatively firm barriers preventing the spreadofprionsbetweenspe- cieswasquestionedwhen it becameclear that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as ‘mad cow disease’, could be transmitted to man. It was then shown, surprisingly, that the disease con- tracted from infected cattle could spread fromman to manbyblood transfusion. Next, the possibility of a much wider application of thepathogenicmechanismof cell destructionbypro- tein aggregation, including degenerative processes causing for exampleAlzheimer’sandParkinson’sdis- eases,willbediscussed.The rapidlygrowingappreci- ation of the significance of signalling between pro- teinsoutside thecanonical stepsof thecentraldogma ofmolecularbiologywill finallybeconsidered. Funeral rites and infectious diseases Unexpectedly, it was the fatal neurological disease kuru, amongst the stone-age Fore people inNewGui- nea, which provided the first insight into what came to be called prion diseases. Studies of brain samples collectedunderprimitive conditions from individuals who had died of kuru provided a principal link be- tween thepathogenesis of two, until then considered, unrelated illnesses, scrapie in sheepandCJD inman [1, 2]. Scrapie had been known since the eighteenth century, but it was in the 1930s that the disease was shown to be infectious and caused by an agent the size of viruses or smaller. The infectious agent was found to be remarkably stable, as it survived the for- malin treatment of an experimental vaccine against louping ill disease in sheep and spread to the immu- nizedanimals. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was identified by twoGer- man neuropathologists in the 1920s. The disease is characterized by a progressive destruction of the brain, referred to as spongiform encephalopathy. It occurs sporadically, with a frequency of about one case per million individuals per year worldwide. In certain groups of people, the frequency is higher, emphasizing the role of a genetic predisposition. One example of such a difference has been identified in studies of Sephardi Jews, who contract spontaneous CJD (sCJD) at a frequency 30 times higher then Ash- kenazi Jews. In addition, there are certain familial formsof thedisease generallywithuniquepatternsof symptoms.Approximately85%ofall casesofCJDare sporadic, whereas about 10% are familial, leaving a small minority of cases with an iatrogenic (environ- mentallyacquired) cause. Unique samples of brain collected by Gajdusek al- lowed identification of the histopathology of kuru. It showed many similarities to the changes in brains frompatientswithsporadicsCJD,but therewerealso similarities to the changes in brains from sheep with scrapie as noted by Hadlow [2]. His observation encouraged Gajdusek to attempt to transmit these noninflammatory diseases to chimpanzees. He and his collaboratorsweresuccessful in transmittingfirst kuru [3] and then CJD [4] by intracerebral inocula- tion of chimpanzees. The term transmissible spongi- form encephalitis (TSE) was commonly used to refer to thiskindof infection. Next, after determining that kuru was infectious, the route of transmission was found to be the ritual can- nibalism practised by the Fore people [5]. The body of the deceasedrelative was prepared for the funeral meal, and the central nervous system containing the largest concentration of the infectious agent was consumed mainly by the women and children; thus, they were primarily affected by the disease (Fig. 1). However, no child born after 1960, the year in which the practice of ritual cannibalism ceased, has con- tracted kuru. The incubation time of the disease can be long, potentially longer than the life span of the individual, and cases of kuru have occurred in the present century [6]. The infectious nature of sCJD had been demonstrated, but it was initially unclear how it might spread. In fact, under normal condi- tions, CJD is not infectious. To date, careful studies of transfusion of blood from people incubating or even displaying early signs of CJD have not revealed any spread of the agent between individuals by this route [7]. Only under conditions of medical interven- tions involving brain material could an iatrogenic spread of the spontaneous form of the disease be demonstrated. Prions Throughout the 1970s, Gajdusek continued to refer to the infectious agents that cause kuru ⁄CJDas slow viruses, and this situation did not change until Prus- inerbegan togain insights into thechemicalnatureof theagentsusinghamster scrapieasamodel to isolate and characterize them. He continued to purify the infectious material from hamster brains until he produced a relatively pure protein preparation [8]. Because of the lack of any evidence of participating E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 2 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 nucleic acid in this preparation, he named it prion (proteinaceous and infectious particle) [9]. The pro- tein preparation – referred to as PrP 27–30 (prionpro- tein with a molecular weight 27–30 kD) – was pure enough to determine a short section of its amino ter- minal amino acid sequence. This informationmade it possible to determine that the gene responsible for the synthesis of the prionproteinwasnot foreign, but a normal host cell gene [10]. Thus, it becamepossible to explain the absence of any inflammatory response in the tissues in the presence of this infectious dis- ease; under healthy conditions, we do not develop immunological reactions toourowntissues. Following the identification of the PrP gene, it was possible to produce mice deficient in PrP using ‘knockout’ technology [11]. At this time, itwasknown that the PrP protein appears in the brain early during embryonic development. It was found, unexpectedly, thatdevelopmentand life spanappearedtobenormal in animals without PrP protein. The PrP-knockout mice could be used for two types of critical follow-up experiments. First, after infection with different doses of infectious prion material, the knockout mice were found to be completely refractory to development of disease [12, 13]. Furthermore, they could mount an immune re- sponse to the PrP protein, as this no longer repre- sented an endogenous product. For the first time, antibodies could be generated against different parts of the protein. The protein that Prusiner et al. had identified was indeed critical to the pathogenic pro- cess inpriondiseases. The second type of experiment was to investigate the effects of reintroducing into the PrP-knockout mice either a modified homologous PrP gene (carrying a substitution or deletionof a single or a stretch of ami- no acids) or a PrP gene from a different species. The former experiment enabled attempts to dissect the role of different parts of the PrP protein in the patho- genicprocess (asdiscussedbelow).The latterenabled the evaluation of the species specificity of PrP pro- teins. Mice are normally infected only by prions from othermiceorrodents,suchashamsters,butnot from more distant species. However, by generation of transgenic mice carrying for example a human or a bovinePrP gene, this species barrier can be overcome providing important opportunities for studies of dif- ferent kinds of pathogenic PrP proteins of relevance forhumandisease. Inappropriate folding and aggregation of proteins can cause disease Diseases caused by protein aggregation have been known fora long time.Theyarecollectively referred to as amyloid diseases, a term reflecting the original misconception that the observed stainable deposits contained starch (amylum in Latin). Later, it was demonstrated that theywere in fact composedof vari- ous kinds of proteins. The amyloid deposits have characteristic staining properties and show birefrin- genceunderpolarized light.Proteinaggregatesshow- ing these characteristics were demonstrated in the brainsofpatientswithCJD.However,amyloid forma- tion is not always a feature of prion disease [14]. It is in fact found in only about 10% of the brains of patients with sCJD, but at a much higher rate in patientswithother formsof thedisease. It then became possible to determine the structure of purified PrP using nuclearmagnetic resonance anal- ysis [15, 16]. It was shown that PrP can appear in two completely different forms, albeit with an identical amino acid sequence. The ‘healthy’ protein, referred to as PrP-C (control), has a structure involving predominantly two large alpha-helix structures, 1000 800 600 400 200 N um be r o f d ea th s Total < 20 years Males 5-years time periods 57– 62– 67– 72– 77– 82– 87– 92– 97– 02– 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 01 06 Fig. 1 The epidemiology of kuru amongst the Fore people, which in 1960 had a total population of about 300 000 indi- viduals.Thenumberof cases inyoung individuals rapidlyde- clined after 1960, the year inwhich the practice of ritual can- nibalism ceased. Themajority of victimswerewomen. Single cases have appeared into the present century, implying an incubation time exceeding 40 years. Figure kindly provided byPaulBrown. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 3 whereas there is a predominance of beta-pleated sheets in the pathological PrP-TSE protein (Fig. 2). It is the PrP-TSEprotein thatmay formamyloid protein aggregates. The reason for the two completely differ- ent configurations of the same protein is not known, but a critical observation is that if a small amount of PrP-TSE is added to a larger amount of PrP-C, the ‘healthy’ protein is converted to theTSE formbyanas yet undefined contagious ‘snowball’ effect. Two theo- retical models, nucleation-polymerization and tem- plate assistance, have been proposed to explain this ([17], Fig. 3). However, as discussed in the next sec- tion, only certain kinds of proteins are capable of forming amyloid and are truly infectious, and the term prion is reserved for them; the term prionogenic has been introduced to include noninfectious amy- loid-generatingproteins. Iatrogenic CJD The awareness that CJD was a disease that could be transmitted to experimental animals immediately raisedthequestionof towhatextent itmightbe trans- missible between humans. There was no epidemio- logical evidence of connections between cases of CJD, except for an increased frequencyof occurrence in certain families and ethnic groups. In the light of understanding the seminal importance of PrP in the disease, it could be deduced that familial casesmust be because of inheritedmutations in different sites of the PrP gene, whereas sporadic cases were likely to be caused by mutation(s) accumulated in somatic (possibly brain) cells or alternatively a spontaneous emergenceofamisfoldedPrPprotein (thenucleation– polymerizationmodel) during the lifetime of the indi- vidual. As alreadymentioned, to date it has not been possible to find evidence for transmissionof disease from individuals with sCJD by blood transmission [7], but relatively recent data provide evidence for a possible transmission of scrapie in sheep by experi- mentalblood transfusion [18]. Gajdusek and collaborators at an early stage began to search for evidence of the spread of CJD through medical intervention. They found that in CJD, as in scrapie, themajority of infectiousprionswere located in the brain; indeed, brain tissue is about 100 000 times more infectious than peripheral tissues, such as blood [19]. The first case of iatrogenic spread of CJD between two individuals was found in connec- tionwith a corneal transplant [20], and later the simi- lar spread to two relatively young individuals was demonstratedasa result ofusing electrodes for intra- cerebral recording [21]. Three epidemics of strikingly different origins have beendocumented, andall comprise slightly in excess of two hundred cases with the maximum number of cases at the end of the 1990s (Fig. 4). The first of the three epidemics was caused by the use of human growth hormone prepared from pools of many hun- dredsofpituitaryglands fromcadavers [see19for ref- erences]. Because these preparations were used in growing individuals, many of the victims of the dis- ease were relatively young. When this iatrogenic spread of CJD prions was discovered, the product was rapidly withdrawn, and it was progressively re- placed by growth hormone prepared by recombinant DNA technology. The average incubation time of this parenterally injected material was estimated to be 15 years (range 4–36 years). The total number of cases to date is 206, and the epidemic seems to have Fig. 2 Fundamentally different structures of normal and inap- propriately folded PrP protein. The latter has a predominance of beta-pleated sheets, which gives it a propensity to aggregate with other homologous proteins potentially causing destruction of tissues. Figure kindly pro- videdbyPaulBrown. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 4 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 just reached an end. Most cases occurred in France, 109 of 1700 treated individuals. The corresponding figures are 56 of 1848 treated individuals in the UK and28 of 7700, in theUSA. In theUSA, an additional step of purification was introduced in 1977, which may have reduced the risk of transmission of infec- tiousprions. The second epidemic has a distinctly different iatro- genic background. It relates to the previous use of heterologous cadaveric dura mater material to im- prove the healing process after neurosurgical inter- ventions [see 19 for references]. The total number of cases registered to date is 196 (only 142 shown in Fig. 4), the majority (63%) of which have been in Ja- pan. The estimated average incubation time was 11 years (range 16 months – 23 years). The use of this typeof graftwasbanned in theUK in1989and in Japan in1997. In1987adisinfectionstepwithNaOH was introduced, but eventually this was not consid- eredsafe. The alternatives used today are synthetic duramater material, connective tissue (fascia lata orfascia tem- poralis) from the patient or material of animal origin (bovine pericardium)’. Overall, it seems that the threat of iatrogenic spread of CJD is now minimal [19].With thepresentawareness of the situation, any potential occupational risk of disease, for example, for surgeons and nurses involved in brain surgical procedures,can inpractical termsbeeliminated. The main focus of interest during the last 15 years has been the third epidemic, the unexpected spread ofprions fromcattle toman. The spread of BSE to man The BSE epizootic began in the mid 1980s (Fig. 5). It developed rapidly and reached its peak in 1992, but still to the present time, spurious cases of infected animals are being identified. Extensive culling of cows took place on farms in which BSE-infected ani- mals were identified. In spite of this, about 180 000 casesofBSE (cowsdisplayingsymptomsofdiseaseor with demonstrable PrP in their tissues) have so far been identified.Themean incubation time isapproxi- mately 5 years. The source of the epizootic was a no- vel type of feed introduced to provide protein, in par- ticular for diary cows. The natural cow feed of plant proteins was supplemented with meat and bone meal prepared from offal of cattle, sheep, pigs and Fig. 3 Schematic model of conversion of PrP-C to PrP-TSE. In the nucleation-polymerizationmodel, there is a rapid conversion of PrP proteinbetween thePrP-C (circles) andPrP-TSE forms (squares), but the former ismore stable. In the presenceof anaggregate large enough to act as a stable nucleus, illustrated by the collection of PrP-TSE squares, a change from PrP-C to PrP-TSE is favoured. In the template-assistancemodel, theconversionofPrP-Coramodifiedconformation,PrP-INT (intermediate), toPrp-TSE is extremely slow in the absence of PrP-TSE, but the process of conversion is essentially irreversible. PrP-TSE is able to propagate itself by catalysing the conversion of other PrP-INT molecules to the PrP-TSE confirmation. The final product of the two models is amyloid,which ispotentially responsible for thediseaseprocess.Modified fromref.17. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 5 chickens. Such amixed food had already been in use forsome time,but in the late1970s,apreviouslyused hydrocarbon solvent-extraction method was aban- doned resulting in a markedly increased fat content of the product. It was this modified feed that was the sourceofspreadofprionsofeitherbovineorovineori- gin. As soon as this was recognized in 1988, its use was forbidden. Soon after, a test to detect PrP in tis- sues of animals was successfully developed, but unfortunatelywasnotapplicable toblood. In farms in which an infected animal was detected, the entire herdwasculled. In 1989 mandatory changes in slaughtering tech- niqueswere introduced. These changes ensured that thebrainandspinal cord, themainsourcesofprions, were excluded from products used for human con- sumption. The precaution was taken even though at the time it was not anticipated that prions could spread fromcattle directly toman, as therehadnever been any evidence that the scrapie agent could spread fromsheep toman. Inprinciple, thesamespe- cies barrier that had prevented such a spread for hundreds of yearswas expected to exist also between cowsandman.However, in1994 thefirst caseofCJD ofbovineoriginwas identified inman [22]. For several reasons, it was concluded that this case was caused by transmission of prions from cows. First, the histo- pathological changes in the brain showed unique characteristics. Second, the patients were younger, as it laterwas shown, by about 40 years compared to those with sCJD. Finally, the molecular characteris- tics of the agent were unique, demonstrating a differ- ent,most probablynon-human, origin. The new form ofCJDwas referred to as variant CJD (vCJD). In con- trast to the above-mentioned forms of iatrogenic CJD, which were caused by a parenterally injected drug originating fromabrain extract or bydirect con- tact between brainmaterials in neurosurgical proce- dures, the spread in the case of vCJDwas oral. It was known from previous studies of prions from cases of 28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0 28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0 28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0 1953 19631967198919911993 1995 19971999 2001 20032005 20072009 vCJD – prion contaminated meat Injection of growth hormone from pituitary glands Transplant of dura mater grafts Fig. 4 Comparison of threeCreutzfeldt-Jakobdisease (CJD) epidemics.Eachof theepidemics involvedabout200patientsandwascausedbydifferenthuman interventions: iatrogenic CJD by intra-muscular injection of pituitary gland-derived growth hormone; iatrogenic CJD as a result of dura mater transplantation;andvariantCJDbecauseof ingestionof con- taminatedmeat. Theaverage incubation time in the three epi- demicswas15,11andabout11–12 years, respectively. BSE [0–40 000] vCJD blood transmission [0–40] vCJD undefined route [0–40] 40 000 35 000 30 000 25 000 20 000 15 000 10 000 5000 0 <19881989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Fig. 5 The epizootic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (bluebars), theepidemicof variantCreutzfeldt-Jakobdisease (vCJD) in humans (red bars) and three cases of transmission of vCJDbetweenhumansbyblood transfusion (yellowbars). E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 6 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 sCJDthat feedingof experimentalanimalsbytheoral route was a very inefficient way of initiating an infec- tion with this kind of agent. Yet still the disease spread, which initiated speculation about the possi- ble number of case that might be expected. Fortu- nately, theepidemicpeaked in theyear2000andnow appears tohavecometoanend (Figs4and5).Todate, the total number of individuals infected by vCJD is 214, of which 167 cases have occurred in the UK, 25 in France and most of the rest in other European countries [23]. The time interval between thepeaksof the BSE epizootic and the vCJD epidemic is 9 years. However, it should be noted that slaughtering tech- niques toexcludethemostcontaminatedpartsofcat- tle were introduced by 1989, suggesting that true incubation times exceed an average of 11–12 years. Noonebornafter1989hascontracted thedisease. As alreadymentioned,mutational changes in thePrP protein can influence its propensity to fold incor- rectly. In the case of vCJD, it has been found that the aminoacid inposition129 in theproteinhasacritical role for the development of thedisease.Depending on the nucleotides in this position, it can specify either valine or methionine, but all cases of clinical vCJD identified to date have hadmethionine in both allelic positions. The recent vCJD epidemic peaked in 2000 ⁄2001 and apparently ended in 2008, but there have been speculations of a possible additional wave of the disease in individuals with methionine ⁄valine or valine ⁄valine in position 129 [24]. However, it is doubtful whether infected individuals with this ge- netic background can develop clinical disease and in the unlikely event that they do, the number of cases willprobablybe fewer than inthe recentepidemic. High-tech ‘cannibalism’ Essentially cannibalism is not practised in modern society; however, there are an increasing number of situations inwhich body fluids, tissues or organs are transferred between individuals. Blood transfusions havebeenperformedsince a long time, but theproce- duredidnotbecomesafeuntil thediscoveryof thehu- man blood groups in the beginning of the 1900s. Since the beginning of the 1960s, transplantation of solidorgansandbonemarrowhasbecomeacommon practice in human healthcare. Because, as men- tioned earlier, blood transfusion has not been known to cause the spread of sCJD, the report in 2004 that vCJDcouldbespreadbyblood transfusioncameasa great surprise [25]. Within a short period, four cases of transmission of vCJD prions were observed ([26] and see ref [19]). These four cases are described in detail in Fig. 6. Case one was a 69-year-oldman who became ill 7 years after receiving blood from a 24- year-old donor who himself started to show symp- toms of vCJD3 years after he had donated the blood. Thisfirst identified caseprompteda reviewof individ- ualswhohad received blood fromdonorswhohad la- ter developed vCJD.The second case of proven trans- missionwas a 77-year-old patient, who died because ofa rupturedaorticaneurysm5 yearsafterhehadre- ceivedblood fromayoungerdonorwho18 months la- ter developed vCJD. The recipient of the bloodhadno neurological symptoms; however, PrP-TSE could be demonstrated in the spleen and in one lymph node (but not in the brain). It is possible that this individ- ual, with time, might have developed a degenerative disease. It should be noted in this context that this patient was heterozygous for methionine ⁄valine at position 129 in the PrP protein. The third and fourth cases received transfusions from the same donor, who developed vCJD about 1.5 years after donating. It took7.5and8.5 years, respectively, until the recip- ients of the transfusions developed the disease. Be- fore these cases of iatrogenic transmittance of prions causing vCJD had been documented, measures had alreadybeen taken to reduce the risk of their possible spread by blood. Attempts were made to develop a blood test that could demonstrate, as in the case of hepatitis B and human immunodeficiency virus infections, whether a potential donor was infected. However, attempts to finda reliable test have failed to date. Nevertheless, other precautions have been taken. Primarily the selection of donors became 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 Case # 1 Case # 2 Case # 3 Case # 4 3 1/3 years 6 1/2 years 1 1/2 years 1 2/3 years 1 1/3 years 8 1/2 years 7 1/2 years 5 years Fig. 6 Four cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) prion infection caused by blood transfusion. Cases 3 and4were infectedby transfusionofblood fromthesamedo- nor. Ineachcase, theupperbarshowsthe timeuntil thedonor developed disease and the lower bar the time until disease appeared in the recipient or, as in case 2, vCJD prions were demonstrated in the tissues. Figure kindly provided by Paul Brown. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 7 stricter to try toexclude individualswhomightpoten- tially have an increased risk of carrying vCJD prions. Furthermore, it had been reported that mice and hamsters infected with scrapie prions had low titres outside the nervous system and that these prions preferentially occurred in white blood cells [27]. It was therefore decided, first in the UK in the late 1990s and then in other European countries, that white blood cells should be removed from blood to be used for transfusion. From animal experiments, it was deduced that this would reduce, but not elimi- nate, the amount of possibly contaminating prions [28]. Since the introduction of this precautionary measure, no further cases of vCJD caused by blood transfusion have been seen. Additionally, because the number of cases of vCJD has progressively de- creasedsince2000, the risks for thespreadof thedis- ease between humans by blood should by now have beeneliminated. The risk of spread of vCJD prions by blood also ap- plies to products that are prepared using blood as a source. The history of the spread of virus infections by products containing components of blood is long. HepatitisBviruswas transmitted to300 000soldiers duringWorldWar II bya yellow fever vaccine contain- ing live virus stabilized by human albumin. Much la- ter, it was demonstrated that the albumin used had been contaminated by hepatitis B virus. During the mid 1980s, a large number of haemophilia patients became infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when treated with Factor VIII or Factor IX preparations. Not until techniques to screen for the presence of a virus, or antibodies against it, in blood had been developed, could safe preparations be developed. Increased awareness of the importance of excluding contaminationbyviruses frombloodprod- ucts led to the development of general methods of elimination.Treatment with organic solvents was introduced to eliminate enveloped viruses and other procedures, including the more recently introduced nanofiltration, have led to a high degree of efficacy in preventing the spread of conventional viruses by blood-derivedproducts forhumanuse.However, pri- ons representedadifferent challenge because of their unique stability against physical ⁄chemical treat- ments. The particular resistance of this kind of infectious agent was observed at an early stage and stimulated speculation on the possible means of replicationwithoutnucleicacid [29,30]. The unexpected threat, and later demonstration, of transmission of vCJD prions by blood transfusions caused a major review of the possible means of excluding such infectious agents from blood and blood products. First and foremost, it is important to decide fromthehistoryof thedonors that the risk that they carry vCJD prions is minimized. In the absence of any effective technique to detect PrP-TSE in blood, a number of experimental studies using materials ‘spiked’ with prions from rodents have been used to developgeneralmethods toreduce thecontentofpos- sibly contaminating prion proteins. The safety of the products used has beenmarkedly improved [31–35], but it is impossible to be absolutely certain that there is no risk of transmission. Still it should be kept in mind that the recent use of different coagulation fac- tors in man has an impressive track record. A com- prehensive review of approximately 20 000 patients with haemophilia treated with concentrates of differ- ent factorshasnot revealedasinglecaseofvCJD [36]. The only exception is aBritishmanwithhaemophilia in whom a transfer of vCJD prions might have oc- curred (personal information by Tor-Einar Svae, Oc- tapharma, Vienna). This patient was treated during the 1990s with a concentrate of Factor VIII produced in the UK. It was found that material from a donor who later developed vCJD was included in two batches, and it was subsequently shown that the technique of purification did not exclude vCJD pri- ons. This purificationmethod has not been in use for manyyears. The physiological role of the prion protein Once itbecameclear that thepresenceof thePrPgene was absolutely essential to the development of PrP- TSE-derived diseases and that animals without PrP, unexpectedly, seemed to develop normally, it was important to determine the physiological role of the PrP protein. However, despite many studies, its fun- damental function(s) still remains to be definitively identified. Different studies have highlighted a wide rangeofdifferent functions [37–42]. The chromosomal gene denoted Prnp encodes PrP. It is a member of the Prn gene family, which also genes encoding two other proteins. The PrP open reading frame is encoded within a single exon directing the synthesis of aproteinwith254aminoacids. Thispro- tein is post-translationally modified by removal of a 22-amino acid, amino terminal signal peptide and a 23-amino acid carboxy terminal. The latter directs the addition of a glycosylphosphatidyl inositol mem- brane anchor. Under normal conditions, PrP is a membrane-bound protein, but it can also show bio- logical activity and cause infectious amyloid disease in a nonmembrane-bound form [43]. In addition, the E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 8 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 proteinhas twoglycosylation sites andan internal di- sulphide bond. All these properties are shared be- tween molecules exerting their normal physiological function(s) and proteins causing prion diseases. The majority, but not all, PrP proteins are relatively resis- tant to protease digestion. This property was used in the early attempts to purify the protein. Proteinase digestion cleaves about 67amino acids from theami- no terminal of the 209-amino acid final protein prod- uct. This produces PrP 27–30, a truncated protein, which can still form amyloid. This was the protein used by Prusiner et al. to identify the nature of PrP. Alignment of PrP sequences of different mammalian origin shows a striking degree of conservation, high- lighting a crucial biological function preserved throughevolution [42].However, there arealsodiffer- ences, which explain the species barrier to disease transmissionmentionedearlier. A number of different functions have been proposed for the normal protein: modulation of signal path- waysof importance for thesurvival of cells,protection against oxidative stress and binding of copper. It was recently reported that membrane-bound PrP repre- sents the major cellular receptor for the oligomeric beta-amyloid involved in Alzheimer’s disease [44]. Whether there isanysignificance to thispossible con- nection between mechanisms of development of these two neurodegenerative diseases that both de- pend on transmission of inappropriately folded pro- teins remains to be seen. A number of recent studies points towards the particular importance of the PrP protein for long-termmaintenance of neuronal func- tions. One study involving four independently tar- getedmouse strains depleted of PrP-C demonstrated a role of the gene product for peripheralmyelinmain- tenance [45]. Ablationof theprotein triggeredchronic demyelinating neuropathy. Other recent results sug- gest that the seminal role ofnormal PrP is tomaintain brain cells in good condition and protect them from overexcitement. The role of prion proteins in fungi differs markedly from their potential significance for disease develop- ment inanimals,whereas inmammals, theymaygive rise to transmissible neurodegenerative disease, their function in fungi appears to be to produce heri- table and sometimes beneficial phenotypes [46, 47]. Lindquist and colleagues conducted pioneering studies of the potential benefit of prion proteins in yeast and have provided solid evidence that they are crucial for non-Mendelian inheritance in this spe- cies [48–50]. Comprehensive studies of yeast have clarified the central role of prion proteins for survival under different conditions of stress. The results obtained emphasize that biological information can be conveyed not only by nucleic acids but also, sepa- rately, by certain proteins that can initiate a self- perpetuating spread of modified folding of homolo- gous proteins. A broadening of our understanding of the significance of prion-based epigenetic phenom- ena clearly will have an influence on our interpreta- tion of diseases in man and animals. The origin of prionstrainsand, in relation to this, howprionsrepli- cate and whether this replication can be mimicked in vitro are important issues that remain to be addressed. Prion strains: their diversity and origin Theearly studiesof transmissibleprionbraindisease inmiceandhamsters revealed thatagentsofdifferent origin and ⁄or passage history could cause disease after different incubation times and with different histopathologies [51].Originally, thiswas interpreted to mean that nucleic acids must play a role in prion inheritance because it was believed at the time that only this typeofmoleculecouldbethesourceofstably inherited properties. However, the more the system was analysed, themore it became clear that proteins alone could be a source of diversity, the expression of which to a considerable extent was dependent on the environmental conditions. To date, studies of here- ditable human prion diseases have demonstrated correlationswithmore than40differentmutations in the PrP gene [see ref 42]. These genetic variants in- clude single-nucleotide base changes, deletions and occurrenceofavaryingnumberofsegmental repeats. The effects of many of these types of genetic changes have now been mimicked by the use of transgenic mice. It has beenshown that prions exist as conform-ationally diversepopulations and that amongst these there are different strains that can replicate with independent reproducibility. Prion transformation may occur by competition and selection [52]. Other studies have focused on the effect of deletion of the part of the PrP-TSE protein that is responsible for anchoring to the cytoplasmic membrane [43]. The soluble form of PrP-TSE can still cause disease, but there is a major change in the incubation time and in histopathological changes in the infected brain [53,54]. Further studies of the nature of prions The propensity of certain proteins to form potentially pathogenic aggregates can be examined currently by fourdifferentapproaches. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of Internal Medicine 270; 1–14 9 1. Synthetic peptides exploring amino acid-depen- dent conformational differences that determine the emergence of polymorphic amyloid fibrils structur- allymimickingprionstrains. 2. Performance of bioinformatic proteome-wide sur- veys forprionogenicproteins incertainspecies. 3.Examination of the product(s) of replication of pri- ons of different molecular characteristics in trans- genicmicewith a PrP gene construct of a preselected, potentially different species origin (possibly a chi- mera), with different molecular characteristics and displayingvarying levelsofexpression. 4. Treatment of prion inocula prior to inoculation by different procedures to attempt to increase the infec- tiousness of the preparation. This is referred to as in vitro generation of prions, but it should be kept in mind that the read-out of prion ‘replication’ is always an in vivosystem. Syntheticpeptidesof limited length (<10aminoacids) havebeenused tomimicaggregationphenomenagiv- ing rise to different forms of amyloid and prion strain structures [55–57]. These short structures fibrillize to form different kinds of tightly packed, highly com- plementary beta-sheets. The term ‘steric zippers’ was introduced to denote the critical parts of the model molecules. The packing polymorphism observed can provide an insight into the basis for prion strains and for transferofprotein-encoded information. To identify the diversity of prionogenic proteins in yeast, a bioinformatic survey of the whole genome of this organism was performed [48]. Some 100 candi- date proteins were examined and 19 of these were found to be capable of forming prions. The potential physiological role of these different proteins remains to be determined, but some have already been recog- nized to have interesting functions. The self-perpetu- ating characteristics of these proteins suggest that they represent a vast source of heritable phenotypic variation in yeast cells. Thismay facilitate survival of yeastpopulations indifferent environments. Prion replication inmammalian systems requires the presenceofbothPrP-CandPrP-TSE.The latterserves as a seeding nucleus or a template onto which the physiological form of the protein is refolded into the infectious conformation (see Fig. 3). To undergo con- version, it is likely that PrP-C must develop an inter- mediate state. In vivo, this is assumed to be achieved by the assistance of additional as yet unidentified proteins. Prusiner and collaborators referred to pro- tein X as a cofactor. Many putative X proteins have been identified, but transgenic knockouts for the responsiblegeneshavegivenequivocal results [58]. Experimentally induced increase in the infectious- ness of a prion-containing material can be achieved in vivo or in vitro. Many different experiments have demonstrated that it is the characteristics of the seeding nucleus or template that decides the nature of the final product. The roles of the seeding nuclei and templates have been examined in studies with transgenic mice [42]. Certain kinds of seeding nuclei or templates result in an increase in the titre of infec- tious prions in the inoculum [59]. Dissociation an- d ⁄or denaturation treatments by sonication have been used to increase the titre of infectious PrP in vi- tro [60–64]. The infectiousness of the preparations, which include both native and recombinant forms of PrP-TSE, has been facilitated by addition of polya- nions. In further experiments, including denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride at varying concentrations, itwasdemonstrated that theconformational stability of the prions (either native or synthetic) correlated with the incubation period of disease [65–68]. Even protease-sensitive formsof PrPhavebeen found tobe capableof inducingdisease [69]. In vitro replicationof infectiousPrPusingamixture in which all reagents are defined and employing a cell culture read out system as not yet been demon- strated.Nevertheless, there isgeneral agreement that the successful generation of new infectious material that has been achieved both in vivo and in vitro rules out the possibility that prion replication is dependent on informationstored innucleicacids. A further complication to understanding the nature of prions has been provided by the recent demon- stration that infectious prions can arise spontane- ously from normal brain [70]. The catalyst in this study by Edgeworth et al.was steel wires, which had been previously shown to effectively bind infectious prions. Surprisingly, even noninfected mouse brain homogenate attaching to the wires could induce a prion infection in cell cultures, which was transmis- sible to mice. This finding may emphasize that the emergence of a single or a few misfolded PrP pro- teins – not necessarily originating from mutational changes in the PrP gene – might be enough to initiate a cascade of misfolding events involving homologous proteins. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 10 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of InternalMedicine 270; 1–14 Reviewing theextensiveandgrowing literatureonpri- ons and prionogenic proteins, one is struck by the important and longstanding relative contributions of Prusiner and his collaborators. It is often said that a Nobel Prize may hamper later creative contributions in science, but this does not appear to apply to Prusiner. Flow of information between proteins The establishment around 1960 of the existence of the ‘central dogma of genetics’ was an overwhelming advance in our understanding of the process of infor- mation storage and transfer in biology. Information could be safely preserved in digital form and accu- rately reproduced in the form of DNA. This informa- tionwas found tobe transcribedwith ahighdegree of fidelity to RNA, which by interaction with the ribo- somal machinery could transfer the linear message into three-dimensional operative molecules, the pro- teins. In other words, the hardware could build its own software. Still, the more we learn the more we understand that this system cannot answer all our questions. The more refined sequencing of genomes, not least our own, has revealed that there are more nonprotein-coding units, possibly genes, than pro- tein-coding genes. What is the functional diversity of catalytic RNA and how has this evolved using a com- bination of processes? And what about the plethora of formsof regulatoryRNA,dotheyuseadifferentpat- tern of signals in their use of potentially loop-forming single-stranded RNA? Can there be a secondary information-carrying systemwith its own codebased ondifferentqualitiesofRNA loopformation? In the next step of translation of RNA to protein, it is readily accepted that this is a one-way process, but what about the possibilities of flow of information be- tween homologous or heterologous proteins? First, it should be noted that many protein products have a decisive influence on access toinformation stored in DNA;histoneproteinscontrol theavailabilityofgenes for expression – there is even talk of a ‘histone code’ – and this in turn is controlled viamethylation or other chemicalmodifications brought about by other sepa- rate proteins. This arrangement allows for several intertwined feed-back loops. However asmentionedearlier, it has become increas- ingly realized that there is an extensive flow of information, or cross-talk, between proteins. Many proteinsdonothaveafirm three-dimensional form in their native state, but represent a random coil; on coming into contact with a specific part of another protein or another chemical structure that they take on a fixed three-dimensional structure. Others can, under certain conditions, spontaneously move from secondary to tertiary and even quaternary struc- tures. Still, protein folding as a general phenomenon has only been incompletely explained, and it is known that inmany cases assisting proteins, like the chaperones, need to be present. It has been clearly demonstrated that the same polypeptide chain may take on very different conformations and that this occurs under various environmental conditions, in particular in the presence of homologous proteins already folded into one form or another. Epigenetics, i.e. the transfer of resilient genetic information not stored innucleic acid sequences, is a rapidly expand- ingfieldandthere isroomforstillmoresurprises from thestudyofprions. Inappropriate protein folding in human disease Infectious prion diseases are rare, but the mecha- nism of tissue destruction by aggregation of proteins via their beta-pleated sheets seems to also apply to manyother diseases, someofwhichare common [71, 72]. Several examples are given in Table 1.One inter- esting case is thebeta-amyloid protein,whichplays a central role inAlzheimer’s disease. It has been shown in experiments with transgenic mice that injection of Table 1 Prions and potential prio- noids Disease Protein Molecular transmissibility Infectious life cycle Priondiseases PrP-TSE Yes Yes Alzheimer’sdisease Amyloid-beta Yes Not shown Tauopathies Tau Yes Not shown Parkinson’sdisease Alpha-synuclein Host-to-graft Not shown AAamyloidosis AmyloidA Yes Possible Huntington’sdisease Polyglutamine Yes Not shown Modified fromref [71] E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of InternalMedicine 270; 1–14 11 this typeofamyloidmaterial cancauseabraindegen- erative disease with characteristics dependent on both the inoculum and the host [73, 74]. Brain ex- tracts from transgenicmice expressingmutant forms of tau protein have been injected into brains of other transgenic mice expressing human wild-type tau, leading to development of aggregates of the human tau [75]. Thus ‘tauopathies’ may be the result of a prion-like process in which hyperphosphorylation of theprotein leads to polymerizationandsubsequently produces filamentous protein aggregates. There is also evidence for prion-like transmission of polyglu- tamineproteinaggregates, characteristic ofHunting- ton’s disease [76]. Studies have shown that amyloid protein A, the critical protein in secondary amyloido- sis, injected into mouse brain can lead to degenera- tive disease [77]. Additional studies of material from patients with Parkinson’s disease have revealed that the occurrence of inappropriate protein folding can be transmitted from the cells of the host to transplanted cells (see [78]). Also, diseases outside the central nervous system can involve cells sub- jected to degenerative processes induced by inappro- priately folded proteins; one example of this is diabe- tes type 2 [79]. Although these different diseases appear to have their origin in self-sustained aggrega- tionofprionoidproteins, it shouldbenoted that there is no evidence that they may be transmitted by an infectiousprocess. To date, the focus in studies of mammalian prions and prionogenic proteins has been on their potential for development of disease. Whether this category of proteinsmayalso,as inthecaseof fungi, carry impor- tant physiological functions remains to be deter- mined. It was recently demonstrated that the cyto- plasmicpolyadenylationelementbindingprotein can form prion-like multimers in sensory neurons in the nervous systemof thegiantmarine snailAplysia [80]. Thismodification has been proposed to serve a func- tion in long-termmemory.Thus, for readerswhohave followed this review to theend, recollectionof thesali- ent factsandspeculationspresented - if stored for the future -maybedue toaggregationofprionogenicpro- teins in the brain, provided of course that the funda- mental long-termmemorymechanismsof thehuman brainaresimilar to thoseofAplysia. Acknowledgements Bruce Chesebro, David Eisenberg, Susan Lindquist and Stanley Prusiner provided valuable information for this review.PaulBrowngenerouslyprovidedsome of thefigures. Conflict of interest statement Noconflict of interestwasdeclared. References 1 Gajdusek DC, Zigas V. Degenerative disease of the central nervous system in New Guinea: the endemic occurrence of ‘‘kuru’’ in thenativepopulation.NEnglJMed1957;257:974– 8. 2 HadlowWJ.Scrapieandkuru.Lancet1959;2:289–90. 3 Gajdusek DC, Gibbs CJ Jr, Alpers M. Experimental transmis- sionofakuru-likesyndrometochimpanzees.Nature1966;209: 794–6. 4 Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC, Asher DM et al. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (spongiformencephalopathy): transmission to thechim- panzee.Science1968;161:388–9. 5 Glasse RM. Cannibalism in the kuru region of New Guinea. TransNYAcadSci1967;29:748–54. 6 Collinge J, Whitfield J, McKintosh E et al. Kuru in the 21st cen- tury – an acquired human prion disease with very long incuba- tionperiods.Lancet2006;367:2068–74. 7 Dorsey KA, Zou S, Schonberger LB et al. Lack of evidence of transfusion transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a US surveillancestudy.Transfusion2009;49:977–84. 8 Prusiner SB, Groth DF, Bolton DC, Kent SB, Hood LE. Purifica- tion and structural studies of amajor scrapie prion protein.Cell 1984;38:127–34. 9 Prusiner SB. Prions. In: Fra¨ngsmyr T, ed. Nobel Lecture. Stock- holm:Almqvist&Wiksell International,1997;268–323. 10 Oesch B, Westaway D, Wa¨lchli M et al. A cellular gene encodes scrapiePrP27-30protein.Cell1986;46:417–28. 11 Bu¨eler H, Fischer M, Lang Y et al. Normal development and behaviour of mice lacking the neuronal cell-surface PrP protein. Nature1992;356:577–82. 12 Bu¨elerH,Aguzzi A, SailerA et al.Micedevoid of PrP are resistant toscrapie.Cell1993;73:1339–47. 13 Prusiner SB, Groth D, Serban A et al. Ablation of the prion pro- tein (PrP) gene in mice prevents scrapie and facilitates produc- tion of anti-PrP antibodies. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90: 10608–12. 14 Wille H, Prusiner SB, Cohen FE. Scrapie infectivity is indepen- dentofamyloidstainingpropertiesof theN-terminally truncated prionprotein.JStructBiol2000;130:323–38. 15 Donne DG, Viles JH, Groth D et al. Structure of the recombinant full-length hamster protein PrP (29-231): the N terminus is highly flexible. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1997; 94: 7279–82. 16 Riek R, Hornemann S, Wider G, Glockshuber R, Wu¨thrich K. NMR characterization of the full-length recombinant murine prion protein, mPrP (23-231). FEBS Lett 1997; 413: 282–8. 17 HorwichAL,WeissmanJS.Deadly conformations – Proteinmis- folding inpriondisease.Cell1997;89:499–510. 18 Houston F, McCutcheon S, Goldmnann W et al. Prion diseases are effectively transmitted by blood transfusion in sheep. Blood 2008;112:4739–45. 19 BrownP.Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease: reflections on the risk from bloodproduct therapy.Haemophilia2007;13:33–40. 20 Duffy P,Wolf J,CollinsG,DeVoeAG,SteetenB,CowenD.Possi-ble person to person transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease. NEnglJMed1974;299:692–3. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 12 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of InternalMedicine 270; 1–14 21 Will RG, Mathews WB. Evidence for case-to-case transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1982;45:235–8. 22 Will RG, Ironside JW, Zeidler M et al. A new variant of Creutz- feldt-Jakobdisease intheUK.Lancet1996;347:921–5. 23 The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit (NCJDSU), University of Edinburgh, UK, Available at: http:// www.cjd.ed.ac.uk,AccessedNovember30,2010. 24 KaskiD,MeadS,HyareHetal.VariantCJD inan individualhet- erozygous forPRNPcodon129.Lancet2009;374:2128. 25 LlewelynCA,HewittRE,KnightRSGetal.Possible transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease by blood transfusion. Lan- cet2004;363:417–21. 26 Peden AH, HeadMW, Ritchie DL, Bell JE, Ironside JW. Preclini- cal vCJDafter blood transfusion in a PRNP codon 129 heterozy- gouspatient.Lancet2004;364:527–9. 27 Kuroda Y, Gibbs CJ Jr, Amyx HL, Gajdusek DC. Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease inmice: persistent viremia and preferential repli- cationof virus in low-density lymphocytes. Infect Immunol1983; 41:154–61. 28 Gregori L,McCombie DP, PalmerD, Sowemimo-Coker AO, Giu- livi A, RohwerRG. Effectiveness of leucoreduction for removal of infectivity of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies from blood.Lancet2004;264:529–31. 29 Alper T,CrampWA,HaigDA,ClarkeMC.Does theagent of scra- pie replicatewithoutnucleicacid?Nature1967;214:764–6. 30 Griffith JS. Self-replication and scrapie. Nature 1967; 215: 1043–4. 31 Poelser G, Berting A, Kindermann J et al. A new liquid intrave- nous immunoglobulin with three dedicated virus reduction steps: virus and prion reduction capacity. Vox Sang 2008; 94: 184–92. 32 Svae T-E, Neisser-Svae A, Bailey A et al. Prion safety of transfu- sion plasma and plasma-derivatives typically used for prophy- lactic treatment.TransfApheresSci2008;39:59–67. 33 Gregori L, Lambert B, Gurgel P et al.Reduction of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy infectivity from human red blood cells with prion protein affinity ligands. Transfusion 2009; 46: 1152–61. 34 Neisser-SvaeA,Bailey A,Gregori L et al.Prion removal effect of a specific affinity ligand introduced into the manufacturing pro- cess of thepharmaceutical quality solvent ⁄ detergent(S ⁄D)-trea- tedplasmaOctaplasLG.VoxSang2009;97:226–33. 35 Heger A, Svae T-E, Neisser-Svae A, Jordan S, Behizad M, Ro¨- misch J. Biochemical quality of the pharmaceutically licensed plasma OctaplasLG after implementation of a novel prion pro- tein (PrPsc) removal technology and reduction of the sol- vent ⁄ detergent (S ⁄D)process time.VoxSang2009;97:219–25. 36 Health Protection Agency. Variant CJD and plasma products, 2009. 37 Aguzzi A, Polymenidou M. Mammalian prion biology: one cen- turyof evolvingconcepts.Cell2004;116:313–27. 38 Aguzzi A, Calella AM. Prions: Protein aggregation and infectious disease.PhysiolRev2009;89:1105–52. 39 CaugheyB,BaronGS.Prionsandtheirpartners incrime.Nature 2006;443:803–10. 40 Ramijak S, Asif AR, ArmstrongVW et al. Physiological role of the cellular prion protein (PrP-C): protein profiling study in two cell culturesystems.JProteomeRes2008;7:2681–95. 41 Linden R, Martins VR, Prado MA, Cammarota M, Izquierdo I, Brentani RR. Physiology of the prion protein. Physiol Rev 2008; 88:673–728. 42 Colby DW, Prusiner SB. Prions. In: Morimoto R, Kelly J, Selkoe D, ed. Additional Perspectives on Protein Homeostasis. Cold SpringHarbPerspectBioldoi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a006833. 43 Chesebro B, Trifilo M, Race R et al. Anchorless prion protein results in infectious amyloid disease without clinical scrapie. Science2005;104:1435–9. 44 Laure´n J, Gimbel DA, NygaardHB, Gilbert JW, Strittmatter Jw. Cellular prion protein mediates impairment of synaptic plastic- itybyamyloid-betaoligomers.Nature2009;457:1128–33. 45 Bremer J, Baumann F, Tiberi C et al. Axonal prion protein is required for peripheralmyelinmaintenance.NatNeurosci2010; 13:310–18.doi:10.1038/nn.2483. 46 Chien P,WeissmanJS,DePaceAH.Emerging principles of con- formation-based prion inheritance. Annu Rev Biochem 2004; 73:617–56. 47 Ross ED, Minton A, Wickner RB. Prion domains: sequences, structuresand interactions.NatCellBiol2005;7:1039–44. 48 Alberti S, Halfmann R, King O, Kapila A, Lindquist S. A system- atic survey identifies prions and illuminates sequence features ofprionogenicproteins.Cell2009;137:146–58. 49 HalfmannR,AlbertiS,LindquistS.Prions,proteinhomeostasis, andphenotypicdiversity.TrendsCellBiol2010;20:125–34. 50 HalfmannR,LindquistS.Epigenetics in theextreme:prionsand the inheritance of environmentally acquired traits. Science 2010;330:629–32. 51 Fraser H, Dickinson AG. Scrapie in mice. Agent-strain differ- ences in the distribution and intensity of grey matter vacuola- tion.JCompPathol1973;83:29–40. 52 Li J, Browning S, Mahal SP, Oelschlegel AM,Weissman C. Dar- winian evolution of prions in cell culture. Science 2010; 327: 869–72. 53 Chesebro B, Race B, Meade-White K et al. Fatal transmissible amyloid encephalopathy: a new type of prion disease associated with lack of prion membrane anchoring. PLoS Pathog 2010; 6: e1000800. 54 Klingeborn M, Race B, Meade-White KD, Rosenke R, Strie- bel JF, Chesebro B Crucial role for prion protein membrane anchoring in the neuroinvasion and neural spread of prion infection. J Virol 2011; 85: 1484–94. PubMed PMID: 21123371. 55 Nelson R, Sawaya MR, Balbirnie M et al. Structure of the cross- betaspineofamyloid-likefibrils.Nature2005;435:773–8. 56 Sawaya MR, Sambashivan S, Nelson R et al. Atomic structures of amyloid cross-beta spines reveal varied steric zippers.Nature 2007;447:453–7. 57 Wiltzius JJ, Landau M, Nelson R et al. Molecular mechanisms of protein-encoded inheritance. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2009; 16: 973–8. 58 Tamgu¨ney G, Giles K, Bouzamondo-Bernstein E et al. Genes contributing to prion pathogenesis. J Gen Virol 2008; 89: 1777– 88. 59 Sigurdson CJ, Nilsson KP, Hornemann S et al.De novo genera- tion of a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy by mouse transgenesis.ProcNatlAcadSci2009;106:304–9. 60 Saborio GP, Permanne B, Soto C. Sensitive detection of patho- logicalprionproteinbycyclicamplificationofproteinmisfolding. Nature2001;411:810–3. 61 Castilla J, Saa´ P,HetzC, Soto C. In vitro generation of infectious scrapieprions.Cell2005;121:136–44. 62 Deleault NR, Harris BT, Rees JR, Supattapone S. Formation of native prions fromminimal components in vitro. Proc Natl Acad SciUSA2007;104:9741–6. E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of InternalMedicine 270; 1–14 13 63 Barria MA, Mukherjee A, Gonzales-Romero D et al. De novo generation of infectious prions in vitro produces a new disease phenotype.PLoSPathog2009;5:e1000421. 64 WangF,WangX, YuanCG,MaJ.Generating a prionwith a bac- terially expressed recombinant prion protein. Science 2010; 327:1132–5. 65 KanekoK,WilleH,Mehlhorn Ietal.Molecularproperties of com- plexes formedbetween theprionproteinand synthetic peptides. JMolBiol1997;270:574–86. 66 LegnameG, Baskakkov IV, Nguyen H-OB et al. Synthetic mam- malianprions.Science2004;305:673–6. 67 Legname G, Nguyen H-OB, Peretz D et al. Continuum of prion protein structures enciphers a multitude of prion isolate-spe- cificphenotypes.ProcNatlAcadSci2006;103:19105–10. 68 ColbyDW, Giles K, LegnameG et al.Design and construction of diversemammalian prion strains.ProcNatl AcadSci2009;106: 20417–22. 69 Colby DW, Wain R, Baskakov IV et al. Protease-sensitive syn- theticprions.PLoSPathog2010;6:e1000736. 70 Edgeworth JA,Gros N, Alden J et al. Spontaneous generation of mammalian prions. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2010; 107: 14402–6. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1004036107. 71 Aguzzi A, Baumann F, Bremer J. The prion’s elusive reason for being.AnnuRevNeurosci2008;31:439–77. 72 AguzziA.Beyondtheprionprinciple.Nature2009;459:924–5. 73 Meyer-LuehmannM,CoomaraswamyJ,BolmontT et al.Exoge- nous induction of cerebral beta-amyloidogenesis is governed by agentandhost.Science2006;313:1781–4. 74 Eisele YS,BolmontT,HeikenwalderM et al. Indictionof cerebral beta-amyloidosis: intracerebral versussystemicA-beta inocula- tion.ProcNatlAcadSci2009;106:12926–31. 75 Clavaguera F, Bolmont T, Crowther RA et al. Transmission and spreading of tauopathy in transgenic mouse brain.Nat Cell Biol 2009;11:909–13. 76 RenPH, Lauckner JE, Kachirskaia I,Heuser JE,MelkiR,Kopito RR. Cytoplasmic penetration and persistent infection of mam- malian cells by polyglutamine aggregates. Nat Cell Biol 2009; 11:209–25. 77 Lundmark K, Westermark GT, Olsen A, Westermark P. Protein fibrils in nature can enhance amyloid protein a amyloidosis in mice: cross-seeding as a diseasemechanism. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA2005;102:6098–102. 78 Olanow CW, Prusiner SB. Is Parkinson’s disease a prion disor- der?ProcNatlAcadSci2009;106:12571–2. 79 Ho¨ppener JW, AhrenB, LipsCJ. Islet amyloid and type 2 diabe- tesmellitus.NEnglJMed2000;343:411–9. 80 Si K, Choi YB, White-Grindley E, Majumdar A, Kandel ER. Aplysia CFEB can form prion-like multimers in sensory neurons that contribute to long-tem facilitation.Cell2010;140: 421–35. Correspondence: Erling Norrby, Center for the History of Science, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, POBox 50005, Stockholm 10405,Sweden. (fax:+4686739598;e-mail: erling.norrby@kva.se). E. Norrby | Review: Prions and protein-folding diseases 14 ª 2011 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine Journal of InternalMedicine 270; 1–14
Compartilhar