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Published online 28 August 2001 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news010830-6
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Prion pair pictured
Domain swapping could be prion couples' downfall.
A new snapshot of the healthy human prion protein shows that it likes to pair up with a pal. The fact that the protein prefers to couple up may help to explain how abnormal prions cause degenerative brain conditions such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD), the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
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