. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 May 8.

Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Dec 23;11(3):155–159. doi: 10.1038/nrn2786

Table.

Common features of mammalian proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

Protein	Conformational Diversity?	Trans-Cellular Aggregate Movement in Culture?	Aggregate Propagation in Vivo?
prion	yes^{21, 22}	yes^40–42	yes⁴
Aβ	yes²⁸	extracellular aggregates are taken up by cells⁴⁰	yes: inoculation of brain triggers further aggregation⁵³
tau	yes²⁷	extracellular aggregates are taken up by cells and transfer of intracellular aggregates occurs⁵⁰	yes: extracellular inoculation with aggregates triggers uptake of aggregates and induces further intracellular tau misfolding⁵⁴
α-synuclein	yes²⁹	protein is released by cells and taken up by co-cultured cells⁴⁷	possibly: in humans, transplanted cells develop Lewy bodies^44–46; transplanted cells in mice take up protein from host and form inclusions⁴⁷
polyglutamine	yes⁶¹	aggregates are taken up by cultured cells and trigger misfolding of wild- type protein; aggregates can move between cells⁵¹	no: not demonstrated