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Prions tunnel between cells

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Prions are abnormal isoforms of host proteins that are the infectious agents in certain mammalian neurodegenerative diseases. How prions travel from their peripheral entry sites to the brain where they cause disease is poorly understood. A new study finds that tunnelling nanotubes are important for the intercellular transfer of prions during neuroinvasion.

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Figure 1: Intercellular transport of PrPSc mediated by TNTs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hans-Hermann Gerdes is in the Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, 5009 Bergen, Norway. hans-hermann.gerdes@biomed.uib.no,

    Hans-Hermann Gerdes

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  1. Hans-Hermann Gerdes
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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Gerdes, HH. Prions tunnel between cells. Nat Cell Biol 11, 235–236 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0309-235

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