Week 9 - Protein Plaques and Diseases Flashcards
Why do different proteins have different shapes?
Different sequence of amino acids
What is a protein plaque?
Clump of protein formed in extracellular space
What are amyloids?
Class of insoluble proteins that most protein plaques are composed of
How is Alzheimer’s disease caused by protein plaques?
Amyloid Precursor protein is cut by beta-secretase, and then cut again by gamma-secretase. If gamma-secretase cuts off a large portion, Amyloid Beta protein-42 is created as opposed to 40 and causes protein plaques outside of the cell
What does BSE stand for? (Mad cow disease)
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
How is BSE transmitted to humans?
Eating brain/spinal cord
what is BSE called in humans
New variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
What are prions?
Proteins that misfold other proteins
What is the relation between PrPc and PrPSc?
PrPc is a normal protein where PrPSc is a misfolded version of this protein that also converts PrPc into more PrPSc which accumulates and forms amyloid fibers which form protein plaques
