Scientists unravel evolutionary origins of prion disease gene
September 29th, 2009 - 5:15 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Sept 29 (ANI): Scientists claim to have unravelled the evolutionary origin of the prion gene that is responsible for causing diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as “mad cow disease.”
Diseased prion proteins are responsible for the fatal neurodegenerative Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, and BSE, scrapie and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in livestock.
The researchers say that the new study may provide insights into the origins and underlying constraints of the conformational changes associated with prion diseases.
“The prion protein was discovered over twenty years ago and has been studied intensively. Nobody, however, knew its evolutionary origin and much confusion surrounds its physiological function,” said principal investigator Gerold Schmitt-Ulms (Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, U of T)
The team’s analysis suggests that the prion gene is descended from the more ancient ZIP family of metal ion transporters.
The members of ZIP protein family are well known for their ability to transport zinc and other metals across cell membranes.
Schmitt-Ulms has found that prion and ZIP proteins contain extensive stretches of similar amino acid sequence.
The researchers next documented that the respective segments within ZIP and prion proteins are computationally predicted to acquire a highly similar three-dimensional structure.
Finally, the team uncovered multiple additional commonalities between ZIP and prion proteins, which led them to conclude these molecules, are evolutionarily related.
The study was published in the online journal PLoS ONE. (ANI)
- Infectious prions can suddenly erupt from normal brain tissue - Jul 27, 2010
- Fast, accurate test to diagnose CJD developed - Jan 31, 2011
- Healthy prion proteins protect nerve cells - Jan 25, 2010
- Species barrier may protect humans eating deer, elk from chronic wasting disease - Jul 31, 2009
- Mad cow disease can also be transmitted through air: Study - Jan 14, 2011
- New biomarker for fatal brain disease identified - Mar 10, 2011
- Fatal brain disease spreads in Britain - Mar 30, 2011
- How misfolded protein spreads from cell to cell, potentially spreading disease - Feb 19, 2011
- Genetic mutation that can cause mad cow disease uncovered - Sep 12, 2008
- Foie gras may up Alzheimers risk, warns researcher - Feb 11, 2009
- Imbalance of iron linked to prion disease-related neuronal demise - Mar 15, 2009
- Brain-eating ritual in tribes trigger striking example of rapid human evolution - Nov 19, 2009
- Mad cow case detected in US - Apr 25, 2012
- Cattle's eyes may become new windows to detect mad cow disease - Sep 12, 2010
- vCJD can be transmitted via blood transfusion - Aug 30, 2008
Tags: amino acid sequence, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, chronic wasting disease, conformational changes, disease gene, evolutionary origin, evolutionary origins, fatal neurodegenerative, gene washington, mad cow disease, neurodegenerative diseases, physiological function, plos one, prion diseases, prion gene, prion protein, prion proteins, protein family, ulms, zip family