Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Isolation, Propagation, and Prion Protein Expression During Neuronal Differentiation of Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells
Published on: March 18, 2019
Internalization and signal transduction of PrP(106-126) in neuronal cells
Lars-Ove Brandenburg1, Ralph Lucius, Azami Tameh Abolfazl
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Wendlingweg 2, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Department of Anatomy, University of Kiel, Germany. lbrandenburg@ukaachen.de
Abstract:
Invasion of the nervous system and neuronal spread of infection are critical, but poorly understood steps in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. We have thus analyzed the internalization and signal transduction of the neurotoxic fragment of the prion protein PrP(106-126) in the rat neuroblastoma cell line B104 by fluorescence microscopy and quantification by ELISA and in primary neuronal cells from mice. Phospholipase D (PLD) is known to be an enzyme involved in the regulation of secretion, endocytosis and receptor signalling. We determined the PLD activity using a transphosphatidylation assay and could show that PLD is involved in PrP(106-126) internalization. The determination of receptor activity via quantification of ERK1/2 phosphorylation and cAMP level measurement verified the PrP(106-126)-induced signal transduction in B104 cells and primary neuronal cells. PrP(106-126)-induced a decrease in cAMP level in neuronal cells. These studies indicate the involvement of PLD in PrP(106-126)-endocytosis and mediated cellular signalling by an unidentified inhibitory G-protein-coupled receptor and may allow the development of therapeutic agents interfering with prion uptake and/or PLD function using PLD as a possible pharmaceutical target.
Related Concept Videos
IP3/DAG Signaling Pathway
Assembly of Signaling Complexes
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
Cell Signaling in Plants
Amplifying Signals via Second Messengers
Amplifying Signals via Enzymatic Cascade
Synaptic Signaling
