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Prion strains under the magnifying glass

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Prion 'strains', multiple conformations of the same misfolded protein, have captured great interest because of their role in transmission of mad cow disease to humans. Prion strains have also been observed in yeast, where self-propagating protein folds are responsible for inheritable traits. Recent findings reveal an exciting new insight into the structural basis of this phenomenon.

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Figure 1: Experimental strategy used to probe the structure of Sup35 prion strains by hydrogen-deuterium exchange.
Figure 2: Structural models of the Sup35 protein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nathan J. Cobb and Witold K. Surewicz are in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. witold.surewicz@case.edu,

    Nathan J Cobb & Witold K Surewicz

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  1. Nathan J Cobb
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  2. Witold K Surewicz
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Cobb, N., Surewicz, W. Prion strains under the magnifying glass. Nat Struct Mol Biol 14, 882–884 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb1007-882

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