Bovine Spongiform Encephalophathy Essay -- BSE Prion Mad Cow Disease

Bovine Spongiform Encephalophathy annul Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is caused by a prion, which is an infectious agent comprised only when of protein. The prion is a de generate form of a e preciseday cellular protein make in the brain and in nervous tissue. It targets the normal protein and causes the normal protein to depart its shape. When enough of the prion is produced, the cell dies and symptoms of the complaint are expressed.Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), to a greater extent commonly known as mad cow disease, is an unusual disease in regards to the fact that it is not caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or any opposite organism. Instead the disease is caused by prions, infectious agents simply composed of protein. Prions lose nucleic acid and are composed of an abnormal isoform of a normal cellular protein. What this means is that the prions and the cellular proteins have the same arrangements of the amino acids however, the prion is folded differently fro m the cellular protein. They are much like the toy Transformers that intrigued little kids in the 1980s. A sphynx could become a robot a bug could become a warrior. Nothing was added nothing subtracted.(Ruth Levy Guyer, Ph.D., 1) The tightly wound alpha helixes (figure 2) of the normal cellular proteins are unfolded and turn into beta sheets (figure 1).(Ruth Levy Guyer, Ph.D., 1)Figure 1Figure 2Another feature of the prion is its ability to remain perpetual in extreme conditions. Because prions do not have any desoxyribonucleic acid or RNA like other infectious agents, they are very hard to deal with. Prions are extremely resistant to conventional procedures to deactivate them including irradiation, boiling, dry heat, and chemicals such asformalin, betapropiolactone, and alcohols.S... ...is a disease that runs in families and prevents people from sleeping, causes locomote and emotional problems, and is eventually a killer. GSS was linked to two mutations in the prion gene in 198 9. Prion fragments accumulate in the brain instructures called plaques. In Alzheimers disease, mistakable plaques develop, but they are composed of fragments of a different protein.Works CitedPrion Wikipedia. 28 July 2006 .DeArmond, Stephen J., M.D., Ph.D., Safar, Jiri, M.D., Groth, Darlene, A.B., Prusiner, Stanley B., M.D. Prions Office of Health and Safety. 28 July 2006 .Guyer, Ruth Levy, Ph.D. Prions Puzzling Infectious Proteins subject area Institutes of Health Office of Science. 28 July 2006 .