User talk:Purple

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I hate to say "welcome" after so long, but I will say "thanks" for your contributions to prion and other articles such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Have you seen this? It would be nice to gave a green check mark in the error table next to 'prion'. Anyhow, thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia. --JWSchmidt 01:55, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject: Neuroscience

Welcome! I'm always happy to see an educated specialist join the group! Keep an eye out for any comments on the project, and read through the talk page a bit to see if there are any outstanding issues that catch you eye. Cheers and happy editing! Semiconscious • talk 00:09, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kuru and Prions

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put my question, but I'm doing a research project on the Kuru disease and I'd like to know what exactly prions do that cause the brain to get "spongy".

Now, from reading the Prion article in Wikipedia, I get that the PrP^Sc protein contains a lot more of the amino acid structure called "beta sheets" than the normal PrP^C proteins. Now assuming that HuPrP^Sc kuru protein is somewhat related to the PrP^Sc protein, these "beta sheets" allow the proteins to form insoluble fibrils called amyloid aggregations. How do these fibres cause problems? I'm only a grade 10 student, so I'd like a somewhat simplified answer so that I can understand what you are saying without having to research every word I don't understand. :)

I'd also like to know what exactly amyloid aggregations are. From what I can understand so far, they are structures formed by the prions that cause a heck of a lot of problems. Would I be correct? The article on amyloids in Wikipedia tells me that they are responsible for many neurodegenerative diseases, but it doesn't tell me how the amyloid aggregations cause the problems. Doing some more research on Wikipedia, I found that amyloid aggregations cause problems in people with Alzheimers by braking down blood vessels. Does the same sort of thing happen in Kuru?

In addition, are there any treatments for Kuru? I know there aren't any for CJD or other prion diseases, and that the only difference between the CJD and Kuru is that you inherit CJD while you get the Kuru prion from either direct exposure to infected tissue or eating the brains of a dead person infected with it (like what the South Fore did).

Thanks a lot in advance for your help. 24.84.35.186 20:05, 16 July 2006 (UTC)