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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification of Prions
Published on: November 7, 2012
Alternative origin for "gain-of-function" by mutant SOD enzyme and for conformational change of normal prion protein
S Nishino1, A Kishita, Y Nishida
1Chemical Institute for Neurodegeneration (CIN), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Yamagata University, Japan.
Abstract:
Capillary electrophoresis and ESI-Mass spectrometry methods have revealed that a hydroperoxo-copper(II) complex with (tpa) (=tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) reacts with carbonic anhydrase or amyloid beta-peptide (1-40) as a nucleophile to induce the conformational change of the protein structure, while the Cu(bdpg)-complex ((bdpg)=N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethy)-beta-alanineamide) acts as an electrophile toward the proteins to degrade them under the same experimental conditions. This will lead to suggest that enhanced nucleophilic attack by a copper(II)-peroxide adduct to peptide bonding may be one of the serious origins for the "gain-of-function" by mutant superoxide dismutase and for conformational change of normal prion protein.
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