Birth of a prion: Spontaneous generation revisited

Article Abstract:

Prions are the causative agents of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in man, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle or scrapie in sheep. Study is conducted to show that the agent prion can be replicated in a cell-free system, that it can be generated de novo, and that the strain specific properties of prions can be encoded by conformational variations of the underlying protein.

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In vitro generation of infectious scarpie prions

Article Abstract:

A study shows that cellular prion protein [PrP(super c)] --> protease-resistant prion protein [PrP(super res)] conversion can be mimicked in vitro by cyclic amplification of protein misfolding, resulting in indefinite amplification of PrP(super res). The findings of the study demonstrate that prions can be generated in vitro and provide strong evidence in support of the protein-only hypothesis of prion transmission.

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Lamellipodial versus filopodial mode of the actin nanomachinery: pivotal role of the filament barbed end

Article Abstract:

Depletion of capping protein by short hairpin RNA caused loss of lamellipodia and explosive formation of filopodia. A model for selection of lamellipodial versus filopodial organization in which CP is a negative regulator of filopodia formation and Ena/VASP has recruiting/activating functions downstream of actin filament elongation in addition to its previously suggested anticapping and antibranching activities.

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