Scientists observe infectious prion proteins invade and move within b...( 000 different images primarily belonged...),Health

000 different images primarily belonged to Dr. Magalhes--who filled a file cabinet drawer with CDs containing microscopic images. The effort resulted in striking photos that, when put into a video format, show prion protein moving within cells, then along narrow cellular projections called neurites and ultimately into close proximity with adjacent cells.

Other areas the research group plans to explore include

• Exactly where within nerve cells does scrapie infection occur, and how does this happen?
• How and why do large masses of infectious prion protein attach to host cells and become broken into smaller units so that they can invade the cell interior?
• What types of chemical messages are sent between neurites from one cell to another that allow infectious prions to transfer between cells?
• What happens to the infectious prion protein once it is transferred to another cell?
• How do the many different possible pathways that lead into cells determine what happens to prion protein; some pathways could lead to digestion by the cell, others lead to transfer--and presumably infection--in adjacent cells.

"This has been pretty amazing--certainly a new approach for our field," Dr. Baron says.

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Contact: Ken Pekoc
kpekoc@niaid.nih.gov
406-375-9690
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
24-May-2005

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