The role of the pathological form of the prion protein in diseases such as scrapie is now well established, but the function of the normal prion protein in healthy individuals is still unclear. Mouillet-Richard et al. now present evidence that the protein may play a role in signaling at the plasma membrane in neurons through caveolin and the tyrosine kinase Fyn.
Mouillet-Richard, S., Ermonval, M., Chebassier, C., Laplanche, J.L., Lehmann, S., Launay, J.M., and Kellermann, O. (2000) Signal transduction through prion protein. Science 289: 1925-1928. [Abstract] [Full Text]
