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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification of Prions
Published on: November 7, 2012
Copper refolding of prion protein
B S Wong1, C Vénien-Bryan, R A Williamson
1School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, Reading, RG6 6AH, United Kingdom.
Copper binding to mouse prion protein (MoPrP) enhances its antioxidant activity by altering its structure. This copper-bound MoPrP exhibits increased stability and requires the disulfide bond for full antioxidant function.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Normal mouse prion protein (MoPrP) binds copper during refolding, gaining antioxidant activity.
- The structural basis for this copper-induced antioxidant activity remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the structural changes in MoPrP upon copper binding.
- To determine how these structural alterations contribute to the protein's antioxidant function.
Main Methods:
- Circular dichroism spectroscopy to analyze secondary structure changes.
- Antibody epitope accessibility assays to probe conformational changes in the N-terminal region.
- Proteinase K (PK) digestion assays to assess protein stability.
- High-resolution electron microscopy to evaluate protein aggregation.
- Disruption of the disulfide linkage to assess its role in activity.
Main Results:
- Copper binding induced conformational changes in MoPrP, particularly in the N-terminal region, indicated by altered circular dichroism spectra.
- Copper-refolded MoPrP showed decreased sensitivity to proteinase K digestion, suggesting increased stability.
- Electron microscopy confirmed that the reduced PK sensitivity was not due to protein aggregation.
- Disruption of the disulfide bond significantly reduced the antioxidant activity of copper-refolded MoPrP.
Conclusions:
- Copper binding induces specific structural modifications in MoPrP, enhancing its stability and antioxidant capacity.
- The antioxidant activity of copper-bound MoPrP is dependent not only on copper but also on the protein's conformation, which is stabilized by the disulfide bond.
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