Prionlike

A very rare polymorphism in the prion protein gene recently has been identified that appears to protect against prion disease; this finding, in addition to providing greater understanding of the prionlike mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders, might lead to potential treatments.

The team also found that the traits followed prionlike inheritance patterns.

There is increasing evidence of a rationale for a prionlike mechanism of spread of other neurodegenerative diseases through a similar seeding mechanism.