Spanish scientists are studying how cellular prion protein moves in the brains of rats, work they hope will explain how mad cow disease develops. Jose Luis Velayos and Francisco Jose Moleres, research scientists at the University of Navarra, say that cellular prion protein is found in the nervous systems of many species, including humans, although its function are not understood yet. It is also necessary for the functioning of prions, altered prionic proteins, which cause a number of diseases including bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease. The researchers found that cellular prion protein is involved in the neuronal metabolism of calcium. They also discovered that the destruction of perineuronal nests is a consequence of the damage done by prions in the nervous system and not the primary event in infection. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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