Prions are a self-templating amyloidogenic state of normal cellular proteins, such as prion protein (PrP). They have been identified as the pathogenic agents, contributing to a number of diseases of the nervous system. However, the discovery that the neuronal RNA-binding protein, cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding protein (CPEB), has a prion-like state that is involved in the stabilization of memory raised the possibility that prion-like proteins can serve normal physiological functions in the nervous system. Here, we review recent experimental evidence of prion-like properties of neuronal CPEB in various organisms and propose a model of how the prion-like state may stabilize memory.
CITATION STYLE
Si, K., & Kandel, E. R. (2016). The role of functional prion-like proteins in the persistence of memory. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a021774
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