Over the years there have been many documented cases of diseases for which there appeared to be no cause. Only within the late 20th century has the reason for these illnesses been brought into the spotlight. The symptoms of these illnesses are usually the loss of coordination followed by dementia, but in some cases an inability to sleep develops into dementia. These symptoms are caused by damaged regions of the brain. This damage occurs in the form of normal tissue changing to a sponge-like consistency. This is caused by cells clumping together and dying, leaving holes in the brain. These...
down within a few hours, how could CPEB maintain the stimulation of mRNA over extended periods of time? It was then noticed that on some of the CPEB proteins there was a small prion-like portion located at the end. According to Kandel and Si 2004, the CPEB protein, like prions, had two forms, one which soluble and the other which was not. The insoluble proteins convert the soluble proteins and thus help form long-term memory in mammals. Although this theory is far from being confirmed, it helped start the search for other helpful actions of prions and prion-like proteins.