Prion Protein as a Toxic Acceptor of Amyloid-beta Oligomers

The initial report that cellular prion protein (PrPC) mediates toxicity of amyloid-beta species linked to Alzheimer's disease was initially treated with scepticism, but growing evidence supports this claim. That there is a high-affinity interaction is now clear, and its molecular basis is being unraveled, while recent studies have identified possible downstream toxic mechanisms. Determination of the clinical significance of such interactions between PrPC and disease-associated amyloid-beta species will require experimental medicine studies in humans. Trials of compounds that inhibit PrP-dependent amyloid-beta toxicity are commencing in humans, and although it is clear that only a fraction of Alzheimer's disease toxicity could be governed by PrPC, a partial, but still therapeutically useful, role in human disease may soon be testable.