Doppel (Dpl) is a PrP-like protein, coded by a gene named PRND, located near the PRNP (prion proten coding gene) locus. Human Dpl is a 179-amino acid protein showing approximately 25% sequence identity with the carboxyproximal two thirds of the human cellular prion protein (PrPC). A comparison of the structures of Dpl and PrP(C) reveals similarities in the secondary structure and topology. Apar...

Previously, we reported the characterization of a developmentally regulated proline-rich cell wall protein (SbPRP1) gene of soybean; the encoded protein is represented by a consensus amino acid repeat structure of Pro-Pro-Val-Tyr-Lys [Hong, J.C., Nagao, R.T., and Key, J.L. (1987). J. Biol. Chem. 262, 8367-8376]. Two other closely related members of this family of proline-rich protein (PRP) gene...

We recently demonstrated that the 118-135 putative transmembrane domain of prion protein (PrP) exhibited membrane fusogenic properties and induced apoptotic neuronal cell death of rat cortical neurons, independently of its aggregation state. The aim of the present study was to analyze the in vivo neurotoxicity of the prion fragment P118-135 and to evaluate the potential role of the physiologica...

Given the difficulty of applying gene knockout technology to species other than mice, we decided to explore the utility of RNA interference (RNAi) in silencing the expression of genes in livestock. Short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) were designed and screened for their ability to suppress the expression of caprine and bovine prion protein (PrP). Lentiviral vectors were used to deliver a transgene expr...

There are promising results in the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for musculoskeletal tissue repair. However, the variability in the methodology for its obtaining may cause different and opposing findings in the literature. Particularly, the choice of the anticoagulant is the first definition to be made. In this work, blood was collected with sodium citrate (SC), ethylenediaminetetraacetic a...

Approximately 15 % of human prion disease is associated with autosomal-dominant pathogenic mutations in the prion protein (PrP) gene. Previous attempts to model these diseases in mice have expressed human PrP mutations in murine PrP, but this may have different structural consequences. Here, we describe transgenic mice expressing human PrP with P102L or E200K mutations and methionine (M) at the...

BACKGROUND Intra-articular (IA) treatment with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for osteoarthritis (OA) results in improved patient-reported pain and function scores. PURPOSE To measure the effects of PRP and high molecular weight hyaluronan (HA) on the expression of anabolic and catabolic genes and on the secretion of nociceptive and inflammatory mediators from OA cartilage and synoviocytes. STU...

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) infectivity naturally spreads from site of entry in the periphery to the central nervous system where pathological lesions are formed. Several routes and cells within the host have been identified as important for facilitating the infectious process. Expression of the glycoprotein cellular PrP (PrP(C)) is considered a key factor for replication of i...

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders caused by an aberrant accumulation of the misfolded cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) conformer, denoted as infectious scrapie isoform or PrP(Sc). In inherited human prion diseases, mutations in the open reading frame of the PrP gene (PRNP) are hypothesized to favor spontaneous generation of PrP(Sc) in specific brain regions leading to neuronal...

Proline-rich protein (PRP) gene MP6 was isolated from a mouse BALB/c genomic DNA library in lambda EMBL3, characterised by hybridisation and restriction mapping and the promoter region, from -162 to +72 around the PRP consensus cap-site, was sequenced. In gel shift assays this region formed complexes C1 and C2 with parotid nuclear proteins which were induced by the beta-adrenergic agonist isopr...