A Small-Molecule Inhibitor of Prion Replication and Mutant Prion Protein Toxicity.

Into the fold: Prion diseases are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the accumulation in the brain of a self-replicating, misfolded isoform (PrPSc ) of the cellular prion protein (PrPC ). No therapies are available for these pathologies. We capitalized on previously described cell-based assays to screen a library of small molecules, and identified 55, a compound capable of counteracting both prion replication and toxicity. Compound 55 may represent the starting point for the development of a completely new class of therapeutics for prion diseases.