Exploiting the Prion-like Properties of Misfolded Proteins to Diagnose Neurodegenerative Diseases

Some diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, appear to be caused by different corrupted proteins similar to infectious prions. A key question is the extent these common diseases might be transmitted from person-to-person. We and others are exploiting the prion-like self-propagating properties of the corrupted proteins to develop ultra-sensitive tests to improve prospects for early, accurate diagnosis and the development of therapies.