The pattern of scrapie prion protein (PrP(Sc)) accumulation in the brain is different for each prion strain. We tested whether the PrP(Sc) deposition pattern is influenced by the Asn-linked oligosaccharides of PrP(C) in transgenic mice. Deletion of the first oligosaccharide altered PrP(C) trafficking and prevented infection with two prion strains. Deletion of the second did not alter PrP(C) tra...

  Objective(s): Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has recently emerged as a promising strategy in regenerative medicine due to its multiple endogenous growth factors. Little is known about the role of PRP as a promoter in chondrogenesis of human adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs). The aim of this study was to determine whether PRP may be considered as a natural and easy achievable source o...

The prion diseases are transmissible neurodegenerative disorders linked to a pathogenic conformer (PrP(Sc)) of the normal prion protein (PrP(C)). Accumulation of PrP(Sc) occurs via a poorly defined process in which PrP(Sc) complexes with and converts endogenous PrP(C) to nascent PrP(Sc). Recent experiments have focused on the highly charged first alpha helix (H1) of PrP. It has been proposed th...

The prion consists essentially of PrP(Sc), a misfolded and aggregated conformer of the cellular protein PrP(C). Whereas PrP(C) deficient mice are clinically healthy, expression of PrP(C) variants lacking its central domain (PrP(DeltaCD)), or of the PrP-related protein Dpl, induces lethal neurodegenerative syndromes which are repressed by full-length PrP. Here we tested the structural basis of t...

Scrapie is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of sheep and goats belonging to the group of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). TSEs are characterised by distinctive pathology, the involvement of a hostencoded prion protein (PrP) in disease development and genetic control of susceptibility. Polymorphisms in three different codons of the ovine prion protein (PrP) gene (136, 154, 171) ...

The function of the cellular prion protein (PrP) is still poorly understood. We present here an unprecedented role for PrP against Bax-mediated neuronal apoptosis and show that PrP potently inhibits Bax-induced cell death in human primary neurons. Deletion of four octapeptide repeats of PrP (PrPDeltaOR) and familial D178N and T183A PrP mutations completely or partially eliminate the neuroprotec...

Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and bioceramics such as hydroxyapatite (HA) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) are used to reconstruct mandibular defects. We sought to determine the synergistic effects of HA/ZrO2 and PRP and compare their osteogenic activity.Methods: ZrO2 scaffolds were constructed by the slurry method and were then coated with HA and impregnated by PRP/heparan sulfate (HS). Bil...

  Objective: At present, growth factor-containing products such as enamel matrix derivatives, recombinant bone morphogenetic protein (rh-BMP), recombinant platelet derived growth factor and platelet rich plasma (PRP) have gained increasing attention. PRP is an autologous source of platelet growth factors used to enhance healing of soft and hard tissues. PRP has gained popularity due to its auto...

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurodegenerative diseases that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and sheep scrapie. Although one of the earliest events during TSE infection is the cellular uptake of protease resistant prion protein (PrP-res), this process is poorly understood due to the difficulty of clearly distinguishing input PrP-...