"Normal" Prions May Protect Myelin 81
thomst writes "Nature Neuroscience just published an online article about the function of 'normal' prions in protecting myelin, the substance that sheathes and protects sensory and motor nerves. The international study (which has 11 authors) concluded that 'normal' (i.e., not mis-folded) prions may form a protective coat around myelin. The researchers found that Prnp -/- mice (mice with the gene for prions knocked out) consistently developed progressive demyelination, inevitably leading to persistent polyneuropathy by 60 weeks of age. Their data suggest that damage to myelin sheaths cause normal prions to cleave, and the resulting prion fragments activate Schwann cells, which are known to play a part in myelin repair. This research might eventually lead to possible treatments for progressive polyneuropathies in humans, including those mediated by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and even diabetes."
Re:Oops... (Score:3, Funny)
And thats why I'm posting; I'd like to share my idiocy with you.
No worries my good man! This is slashdot. You are in good company.
Re:Oops... (Score:2, Funny)
I did the same thing. I started reading the summary and got to the part about the mice and said to myself, "What are the mice doing in prison?" Doh!
Re:Oops... (Score:1, Funny)
I was anticipating a myelin's law, kind of like megan's law, since prions arent doing a good job protecting the public.
Re:Oops... (Score:5, Funny)
I kept reading "Prisons" instead of Prions and was dumbfounded beyond belief.
I looked away from my screen for a minute imagining the possibilities. Then I looked back, noticed my mistake, and felt like an idiot.
And thats why I'm posting; I'd like to share my idiocy with you.
And I'm thinking "I know hybrid cars are supposed to be good for the environment but aren't they overselling it a bit much? And who makes the Prion anyway, is that Dodge or Toyota?"
Re:Oops... (Score:3, Funny)
I kept reading "Prisons" instead of Prions and was dumbfounded beyond belief.
News at 10: D&D harmful to Myelin [slashdot.org].
Re:Prions (Score:4, Funny)
I think I understand, but I also think a car analogy is in order.
Fine. *mutter, mutter* Your car is just a metaphor for a folding protein called a prion. Except your car isn't a car, but a robot. We'll call it a transformer. Now there are good transformers, and Decepti--I mean, bad robots. The bad robots are bad because they just don't know when to stop. And they want to take over everything using a device called the AllSpark. The AllSpark is the source of ultimate power for the robots good and bad. Except the AllSpark is really nucleic acid. The only way to beat the Deceptic--I mean, bad prions, is to destroy the AllSp--er, nucleic acid. But that would be bad, because without the nucleic acid, none of the cars would run, nobody would get anywhere, and then anarchy would result and the world would end.
Re:Oops... (Score:2, Funny)
He misread it as "prisons" not "psions" ...
Not as bad as thinking... (Score:4, Funny)
"You must construct additional prions!"
Re:Prions (Score:2, Funny)
Thank you for being awesome, khayman80. ^_^
Re:Summary, headline misleading (Score:3, Funny)
Worse, it's transmissible (though usually only by cannibalism, which is kind of funny in a scary sort of way.)
I think it's hilarious in my black-humor way.
It turns out you really can eat the brain of your enemy to gain their power... but only if their "power" was a debilitating brain disease!
Re:Prions (Score:3, Funny)
I think I love you in a platonic sort of way.
Idiocy (Score:3, Funny)
I was thinking of a response more like:
We're all full up of idiocy here. Why don't you try next door?