The flexible tail of the prion protein poisons brain cells

For decades, there has been no answer to the question of why the altered prion protein is poisonous to brain cells. Neuropathologists from the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich have now shown that it is the flexible tail of the prion protein that triggers cell death. These findings have far-reaching consequences: only those antibodies that target the tail of the prion protein are suitable as potential drugs for combating prion diseases.