prions

[Joao Vasconcelos Costa]

It seems well established that prions "replicate" in the spleen and 
other lymphoid organs before reaching the central nervous system. If
we accept the prion model, this should mean that the PrP gene is normal-
ly expressed in those organs. However, I don´t remember having ever read
any paper on the expression of PrP genes in other tissues than the 
nervous tissues. Does someone know such studies?

Another finding that seems to me difficult to reconcile with the prion
model is the neuronal pathway of spread of infectivity from the spleen
to the central nervous system. Any ideas about this?

Joao

-- 
*****   JOAO VASCONCELOS COSTA, MD, PhD
*****   Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia - Oeiras, Portugal
*****   mailto:jcosta at pen.gulbenkian.pt
*****   http://www.pen.gulbenkian.pt/v2/jvc.html