Mad cow disease helps ... increase intelligence?

Prion protein, "mad" cow pathogen has a big role in brain development.

Prion protein is known as an infectious agent causing 'mad cow' disease and 'mad cow ' version of human disease is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. However, this protein also has an important role for neurons.

According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience , Prions is involved in shaping, where the structure and function of neurons of the brains are Development is shaped.

Prions come in two basic forms: normal and faulty, also known as infection. The form usually appears in every cell in the body and helps maintain cell insulating membranes to protect nerves.

However, prions in nerves are often too many, especially during development. Due to being restricted in cell membranes, they are thought to be involved in connecting nerve cells.

Neurologist Enrico Cherubini of the International School of Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, and his colleagues decided to investigate the effect of electrical stimuli on the cortical tissues of the cortex, taken from a mouse lacking gene creation. Prion protein output, 3-7 days old and from some healthy animals.

When "folding" is wrong, Prion protein can cause brain disease in some animals.

They use electrodes to stimulate individual cells while the system of young neurons indicates spontaneous electromagnetic activity, or to stimulate a pair of connected cells.

In tissues taken from healthy animals, both of these processes tighten the thread between the two cells.

For mice lacking the Prion gene, the stimulation process has the opposite effect, making the relationship between cells become weaker.

Further studies have shown that the ability to tighten the relationship between two cells, Prion protein is due to the strong activity of an enzyme named kinasa A cell . In the absence of Prion protein, two cells are looser in relation to the activity of the Lipase C enzyme .

'This shows that the Prion protein plays a role in regulating shaping trends during the development of the cerebral cortex,' said neurologist Cherubini.

The process of tightening the relationship between cells is thought to be important for the ability to learn and remember. Cherubino and colleagues also wanted to find out how Prion proteins were involved in shaping adult behavior.