http://science-education.nih.gov/nihHTML/ose/snapshots/multimedia/ritn/prions/prions1.html
"Prions enter brain cells and there convert the normal cell protein PrPC to the prion form of the protein, called PrPSC. When normal cell proteins transform into prions, amino acids that are folded tightly into alpha helical structures relax into looser beta sheets. More and more PrPC molecules transform into PrPSC molecules, until eventually prions completely clog the infected brain cells. The cells misfire, work poorly, or don't work at all." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/decades11302.cfm "Are they even alive? I suppose it depends on your definition of alive," said researcher Judd Aiken, associate professor of animal health and biomedical sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Like viruses, prions (pronounced "PREE-ons") meet some but not all of the qualifications of life. They reproduce, for example. But unlike bacteria and viruses, prions contain none of the nucleic acids essential to reproduction, the compounds scientists mercifully abbreviate DNA and RNA. Prions replicate in a way not yet completely understood. "They reproduce by converting proteins normally present in the animal to the abnormally structured form," said Aiken, who's researched prion diseases for 17 years." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/may97/864142335.Mi.r.html "The abnormally folded or knotted version of the prion protein has some unusual and remarkable characteristics. First, it is extremely stable, surviving conditions that would destroy most proteins. Second, it seems to have the ability to cause other normally folded prion proteins to adopt the abnormal folding pattern. That last point is the key. Imagine that some abnormally folded prion protein got into your brain. Since it appears to be able to cause the normal protein to become abnormal, i.e. through propagation of an abnormal structure, you can imagine that over time you would start to have an accumulation of the abnormal protein in your brain." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And the "other side" of prions - a beneficial function: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/09/15/MN18012.DTL&type=science ________________________ Deadly `Mad Cow' Protein May Help Nerve Cells Work Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer Friday, September 15, 2000 San Francisco Chronicle Chronicle Sections ________________________ Prions, a mysterious form of protein particle linked to some of the most deadly brain diseases, may also serve as an important chemical messenger in the complex everyday workings of nerve cells, scientists report today. A team of French researchers has found that prions in their benevolent form, sitting on the surface of nerve cells, can interact with other molecules to relay signals arriving from outside the cell, a vital process in the nervous system known as ``signal transduction.'' The findings, being published in the journal Science, are the first to show clearly how prions can serve a healthy biological function. " Here's a few links that I found when searching on the mechansims of action. Nothing clear has been elucidated. The Timeline link is a short and interesting read. Garnet http://www.hum-molgen.de/documents/abstracts/0062.html http://www.priondata.org/data/A_hypoth.html Interesting Timeline of BSE: http://bse.airtime.co.uk/hist.htm On Thu, 2004-04-29 at 09:03, Marshall Dudley wrote: > A prion is not alive, so it would be rather hard to kill it. A prion is a > misfolded molecule of protein. I would surprised if CS had any affect on them > at > all. -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver List archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] OT Archive: http://escribe.com/health/silverofftopiclist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
