Soil particles found to boost prion’s capacity to infect
Dr. Judd Aiken is a faculty trainer in the CMB Program. Read the full news article at http://www.news.wisc.edu/1391
Aiken Lab Research Description
We have two major projects in my laboratory: i) the involvement of mitochondria in the aging process and ii) the molecular characterization of the scrapie agent. We are testing the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA is a "weak link" in the aging process. We are examining two animal species, the mouse and the rhesus monkey for the presence of age-associated mtDNA abnormalities. We have identified age-associated mtDNA deletions in both species. These age-associated deletions appear to be most pronounced in nerve and muscle and hold great promise for explaining the major diseases and disorders old age brings to these tissues. Our current efforts involve quantification of deletion abundance and correlation of deletions with changes in cellular morphology. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurologic disorders that are characterized by extended incubation periods, of months to years, followed by rapid progression of clinical symptoms. TSEs affect a wide range of animal hosts with scrapie, in sheep and goats, being the most common natural TSE. Human forms of TSE include Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and kuru. The causative agent of TSEs remains elusive with hypotheses ranging from the agent being a virus to self-replicating protein hypothesis (prion hypothesis). My laboratory is using molecular methodologies to identify the etiologic agent. We have, in addition, recently developed an in vitro system for the identification of drugs having therapeutic benefit.