Cellular prion protein (PrP
C
) encoded at
Prnp
gene is
well-known to form a misfolded isoform, termed scrapie PrP (PrP
SC
)
that cause transmissible degenerative diseases in central nervous system. The
physiological role of PrP
C
has been proposed by many studies, showing
that PrP
C
interacts with various intracellular, membrane, and
extracellular molecules including mitochondrial inner membrane as a scaffold.
PrP
C
is expressed in most cell types including reproductive
organs. Numerous studies using PrP
C
knockout rodent models found no
obvious phenotypic changes, in particular the clear phenotypes in development
and reproduction have not demonstrated in these knockout models. However,
various roles of PrP
C
have been evaluated at the cellular levels. In
this review, we summarized the known roles of PrP
C
in various cell
types and tissues with a special emphasis on those involved in reproduction.