Prion proteins and infertility: insight from mouse models.

A wealth of evidence points to an abnormal form of the prion protein called PrP(Sc) as the transmissible agent responsible for prion diseases. However, the physiological function of its normal conformer, the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)), is still unknown. Recently, a homologue of PrP(C) was discovered and denoted Doppel (Dpl). In contrast to PrP, mice deficient for Dpl suffer from an important pathological phenotype: male sterility. This phenotype shifts the attention from the brain, where most of the investigations on Dpl have been performed, to testis, raising hope to resolve the long lasting search of PrP(C) function.