Oral administration of (-)catechin protects against ischemia-reperfusion-induced neuronal death in the gerbil

Prions diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders resulting from conformational changes in the prion protein from the normal cellular form, PrPC, to the infectious scrapie isoform, PrPSc. High resolution structures for PrPC are now available, and biochemical investigations are shedding light on the nature and determinants of the conformational transition. Together, these studies are beginning to provide a framework to describe structure-function relationships of the prion protein.