Abstrato

Prions and neurodegenerative disorders

Michael Klaps

Only after a protracted and exhausting battle could it have been accepted that a protein might function as an infectious pathogen and lead to central nervous system degeneration. In addition to explaining how a disease can be both infectious and genetic, the concept of prions has also disclosed previously unidentified types of neurological illnesses. The most prevalent neurodegenerative illness is Alzheimer's disease. People in the US suffer from Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, respectively. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), frontoTemporal Dementia (FTD), prion illnesses (including Huntington's disease), and spinocerebellar ataxias are far less frequent. Atypical neuronal protein processing underlies nearly all neurodegenerative diseases. Protein misfolding, altered post-translational modification of freshly generated proteins, incorrect proteolytic cleavage, abnormal gene splicing, improper expression, or decreased clearance of protein degradation can all be components of the aberrant mechanism.