The prion principle and Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Similarities to molecular mechanisms underlying prion diseases may help to refine Alzheimer's disease therapies.

Figure.. The prion principle.

A normally generated protein folds into an alternative molecular structure that self-propagates by structurally corrupting cognate protein molecules. The misfolded molecules self-assemble into multimers that then proliferate by fragmentation, propagation, and spread, causing cytopathologic sequelae in neurons (orange) and glial cells (purple and blue) that contribute to the resulting disease. Proteins can fold into alternative strains, and depending on the protein, propagation may occur extracellularly and/or intracellularly. In many (but not all) cases, the corrupted proteins amass into lesions known as amyloids.