Prions: Misfolded Proteins and Fatal

Transmissible Neurodegenerative Diseases

Jim Mastrianni, M.D., Ph.D.

University of Chicago, Department of Neurology

The prion diseases are fatal transmissible neurodegenerative diseases resulting from the accumulation of a misfolded isoform of a normal host-encoded protein.  This lecture will focus on the recognition of prions, the major properties that dictate infectivity and disease, and the focus of my current research.