How does the prion protein clump? DNA-modulated liquid droplets may explain

(Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem (INBEB)) Researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), in Brazil, have found that the prion protein (PrP) suffers liquid-liquid phase separation, and that this mechanism is finely controlled by some DNA sequences. This could explain the formation of irreversible clumping of PrP, structure responsible for neurodegenerative disorders, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.