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Prion-Like Propagation of Protein Aggregation and Related Therapeutic Strategies

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  • Published:
Neurotherapeutics

Abstract

Many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the progressive accumulation of aggregated protein. Recent evidence suggests the prion-like propagation of protein misfolding underlies the spread of pathology observed in these diseases. This review traces our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon and discusses related therapeutic strategies that derive from it.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NINDS); the Muscular Dystrophy Association; the American Health Assistance Foundation; the Ruth K. Broad Foundation; the Tau Consortium; a pilot grant from the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at Washington University in St. Louis.

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Conflicts of interest

MID has patents pending for novel diagnostic tests, and for therapeutic anti-tau antibodies that have been licensed by a pharmaceutical company.

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  1. Department of Neurology, Washington University in St Louis, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA

    Sarah K. Kaufman & Marc I. Diamond

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  1. Sarah K. Kaufman
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Correspondence to Marc I. Diamond.

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Kaufman, S.K., Diamond, M.I. Prion-Like Propagation of Protein Aggregation and Related Therapeutic Strategies. Neurotherapeutics 10, 371–382 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-013-0196-3

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