In search of a cure for CJD

Thompson, Clare

doi:10.1038/35055708

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Recently, experiments in mice suggest that vaccination against the amyloid-β peptide may prevent and possibly be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease (Janus et al , 2000 ; Morgan et al , 2000 ). This raises speculation that antibodies against PrP Sc may be effective in treating TSE diseases (Thompson, 2001 ). However, since FDCs are most likely to acquire TSE infectivity in the same way they trap and retain immune complexes (Klein et al , 2001 ; Mabbott et al , 2001 ; Fig.…”

Section: Are Fdcs Potential Targets For Therapeutic Intervention In Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The immunobiology of TSE diseases

Mabbott

Bruce

2001

Journal of General Virology

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Section: Are Fdcs Potential Targets For Therapeutic Intervention In Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The immunobiology of TSE diseases

Mabbott

Bruce

2001

Journal of General Virology

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“…Its cause is an absurd practice of modern animal husbandry: feeding processed animal remains to herbivores. Feeding meat meal from sheep infected with scrapie to calves exposed half a million people to the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD) (Horn 2001), a fatal disease that does not appear for many years (Thompson 2001).…”

Section: Other Public Health Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semi-vegetarianism – good for animals, good for the environment and good for humans

Wallis

2017

Australian Zoologist

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The world's population is burgeoning having increased from four billion in 1975 to 7.4 billion at the beginning of 2016. Thus, we need more food and this places more pressure on the environment. Coincident with this change, rates of obesity and of adverse mental health conditions are increasing in most developed countries and also in some developing countries thus burdening health systems. Furthermore, in the time that the world's population has doubled, the consumption of meat has tripled. Large population studies associate high meat consumption with deleterious health and reduced longevity so much so that the World Health Organization has labelled meat a carcinogen. Modern meat production depends on intensive animal production and the feeding of crops to animals, commonly known as "factory farming" or, more formally, "Industrial Farm Animal Production" (IFAP). This industry produces such a high proportion of the animals we eat that any reduction in meat eating will likely see less IFAP. The dominance of IFAP makes it a key contributor to climate change, with emissions estimated at 7.1 gigatonnes CO 2 -equivalents per annum, or 14.5% of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Added to this, the intensive production of animals raises many questions concerning their welfare. In this paper I argue that a largely vegetarian diet makes environmental sense while also offering health benefits and improved animal welfare. The latter occurs by farming fewer animals and by caring for them better. I focus on the health benefits because this is the crux of the issue; if people ate less meat -moved towards a vegetarian diet, then we would be healthier and would also mitigate the environmental and animal welfare problems associated with IFAP. Education is the key. If people understand the origins of their food and the benefits to gain by eating a largely plant-based diet -one where plants are the staples, then there is some hope of tackling a system that has enormous economic and political power. Currently, education fails; only 5% of Australians eat the recommended helpings of fruit and vegetables and do the recommended amount of exercise. The best change we could make in terms of health, environment and welfare would be to refrain from the offerings of the fast-food industry. These food outlets depend on IFAP and have been widely criticised for marketing unhealthy products. The small amounts of meat eaten in a semi-vegetarian existence would come from sustainable animal production where welfare is paramount.

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Functional characterization of the human prion protein promoter in neuronal and endothelial cells

et al. 2001

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Human prion diseases such as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease and kuru are of major medical and biological importance because of their fatal course, epidemic potential, and unique pathophysiology. Endogenous expression of the normal cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is necessary for infection and prion replication. However, knowledge of human PrP(C) gene regulation is rudimentary. We therefore cloned1543 bp of the 5' untranslated and promoter region of the PrP gene. Using transient transfection assays, the full-length promoter and serial deletion mutants subcloned in a luciferase reporter vector were analyzed in neuronal (KELLY) and endothelial (EA.hy926) cell lines, which both express PrP(C) as shown by RT/PCR. Analysis of promoter constructs in KELLY cells indicated two activating regions at -131/-284 and -1303/-1543, relative to the 3'-terminal end of exon 1, and also two repressing elements at -254/-567 and -567/-909 in neuronal cells. In EA.hy926 cells, activating elements were identified at -131/-284 and -284/-567, and one repressing region was localized at -567/-909. In addition, transcriptional start sites were determined by 5'-RACE reaction and RNase protection assay, revealing one major transcriptional start site located at -47 (in KELLY cells), -53 (in human thalamus) and at about -55 (in EA.hy926 cells).

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In search of a cure for CJD

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

The immunobiology of TSE diseases

The immunobiology of TSE diseases

Semi-vegetarianism – good for animals, good for the environment and good for humans

Functional characterization of the human prion protein promoter in neuronal and endothelial cells

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