The interaction of prion protein and hemin, a therapeutic opportunity for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and cerebral hemorrhage?

Neena Singh and Ajai Tripathi’s recent research from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (OH, USA) may offer exciting new insights into prion protein’s (PrP) binding motif and its interactions with hemin, a toxic byproduct of hemoglobin. The implications of this research, published in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease recently, identify hemin as a potential therapeutic target for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and cerebral hemorrhage. Cellular prion protein (PrPc) is a membranous protein implicated in a variety of physiological functions, from long-term potentiation to stem cell renewal. However, PrPc has gained notoriety as the pathological substrate PrP-scrapie (PrPSc) in prion...