In: Biology
What are prion diseases? Why is medicine worried about diseases caused by prions? Are prion diseases curable or treatable?
(a) Prion diseases:
Prions are misfolded, infectious protein particles and causes diseases which affects the brain and neural tissues. They are self replicating and do not possess DNA or RNA.
Examples include BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in cattle and CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) in humans.
PRPsc is the Scrapie form (the misfolded prion) and PRPc is the correctly folded form. The Scrapie form can interact with the normally folded proteins and cause them to misfold.
(b) Prion diseases affects the brain and causes neurodegeneration. It causes changes in memory, movement and behavior.
Medicine is worried bout diseases caused by prions as:
i. They are difficult to diagnose at an early stage
ii. The appropriate mechanism of neural/brain damage is not very clear. So generating a medicine to target a specific step of brain damage is not very easy.
(c) All prion disease are fatal and there is no known medications for treatment and cure, although symptoms can be targeted with the help of antidepressants and sedatives.