Evidence for Prion-Like Mechanisms in Several Neurodegenerative Diseases: Potential Implications for Immunotherapy
Figure 1
Proposed models of -induced misfolding of . The prion protein normally adopts a mainly alpha-helical structure under homeostatic cellular conditions (). can potentially misfold to predominantly beta-sheet structure, thereby adopting an infectious and disease-causing conformation (). Many possible intermediate conformations of variable secondary structure, composition can be adopted during transition from to (, denoted as a single structure for clarity).
