Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Causes
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases are caused by prions. The diseases are thus sometimes called prion diseases. Other prion diseases include Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and kuru in humans, as well as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) commonly known as mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in elk and deer, and scrapie in sheep.
The prion that is believed to cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob exhibits at least two stable conformations. One, the native state, is water-soluble and present in healthy cells. As of 2006, its biological function is unknown. The other conformational state is very poorly water-soluble and readily forms protein aggregates.
People can also acquire CJD genetically through a mutation of a gene (needs to be defined). This only occurs in 5-10% of all CJD cases.