CORDIER-DIRIKOC , Sevda

The key event in prion diseases is the conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrPc) into a pathological and proteolysis-resistant isoform, named PrPres. PrPres is responsible for both neuropathogenesis and transmissibility of the disease. The search for molecules able to inhibit its formation in the brain is potentially a therapeutic...

The involvement of immune cells in prion capture and transport to lymphoid tissues still remains unclear. To investigate the role of dendritic cells (DC), we used DTR(+/+) mice, a transgenic model designed to trigger short-term ablation of DC. Transient depletion of DC around the time of intraperitoneal infection delayed prion replication in...

Doppel (Dpl) shares common structural features with the prion protein (PrP) whose pathologic isoform is considered as the causative agent of prion diseases. Although their physiological functions in the immune system remain largely unknown, we demonstrated that substantial amounts of PrP and Dpl are expressed by spleen cells notably B...