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Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Analysis

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Prions are infectious protein agents that cause aggregation of the peptide PrPC and form large amyloid fibrils. These fibrils resist proteoysis and can have a detrimental effect of the functionality of cells and ultimately cause their death. (3). Misfolded PrPC will form stable aggregates denoted as PrPSc. PrPC is a soluble protein that is present in all organism whose function is still not totally clear (3). When PrPc converts to PrPSc there is an increase in the number of β sheets in the protein, which can allow for interaction and stacking of other misfolded PrPSc proteins, causing an amyloid fibre to form (5).

One of the most relevant prions with regards to human health is Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).CJD is a neurodegenerative disease that causes rapid deterioration over a few months (1).Degeneration can lead to personality changes, depression, memory loss, blindness and many other symptoms (1).Before the identification of variant CDJ, sporadic cases of CJD made up 85% of the CJD cases, followed by familial CDJ causing 5-15% of cases, and the remaining cases contributed to iatrogenic CJD. I will be primarily focused on iatrogenic CDJ and variant CDJ. …show more content…

Once a prion enters the neurons, it can cause degeneration by aggregating with normal

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