Today at work a discussion came up about histone modifications vs. position within a gene, particularly with regards to H3K9 acetylation. H3K9ac is an activating epigenetic marker – it is associated with increased levels of transcription and is thought to … Continue reading
introduction Recently I introduced the glycosylation of prion protein (PrP). In brief: strain information appears to be encoded exclusively in conformation, with no need for glycosylation [Bessen 1995, Piro 2009], at least in most prion strains. However, different strains present with different … Continue reading
I’m interested in coming up with a model that explains how prions replicate and how they cause neurotoxicity, in vivo. Before diving into any modeling, I want to get some key observed facts on the table. A model needn’t accord … Continue reading
In recent posts on depleting PrP and gene therapy, I’ve discussed the notion of a ‘magic threshold’ of PrP knockdown required to reverse symptomatic prion disease. This notion is based on the following evidence. Mallucci successfully reversed prion disease in … Continue reading
Earlier this week we had the chance to tour the Zon Lab at Harvard Medical School / Boston Children’s Hospital. Katie Kathrein, our instructor from Cell Biology this spring, is a postdoc there and very generously offered to show us … Continue reading
At Prion2013, David Westaway and Charlie Mays gave an excellent talk and poster, respectively, on their work demonstrating that PrPC is downregulated during prion infection. Charlie Mays with his poster on PrPC downregulation. The backstory is that a couple of … Continue reading
An interesting update from Prion2013 was Brenda Canine and George Carlson‘s work on GPM6A. This is a protein about which next to nothing is known – even its generic name (glycoprotein M6A) reflects our lack of knowledge about it. George … Continue reading
Recently I’ve become interested in depleting PrP as a strategy for treating prion diseases. There are several different places to try to intervene in PrP’s life cycle, the earliest of which is transcription. Therefore this post aims to summarize what … Continue reading
This post will review what is known about PrP glycosylation and its role (if any) in prion diseases, and will examine whether glycosylation represents a potential therapeutic target for treating these diseases. what is glycosylation? Glycosylation is the attachment of sugar … Continue reading
As of today, no drug, supplement or lifestyle measure has been shown to delay onset of the genetic prion diseases – familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (fCJD), Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI) and Gerstmann Straussler Scheinker syndrome (GSS). Those of us carrying these … Continue reading