3/07/2009 PERMALINK
Researchers find cure for mad cow disease & its human form CJD Prion diseases are neurodegenerative conditions that affect both animals (mad cow disease) and human beings (CJD). They develop when a natural brain protein called PrP comes into contact with the infectious prions. The prions then transform the PrP proteins into a form with a different shape which leads to a build-up of the protein in the brain, causing brain cells to die. Researchers at the UK's University of Liverpool have now discovered the atomic structure of the 'binding' between a brain protein and an antibody that provides a potential cure for mad cow and CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) by 'sticking' to the PrP and blocking the disease's development ... more