Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023 Cerebral Organoid Model in NIAID Study Reveals New Understanding of Fatal Familial Insomnia This image shows differences in brain waves, illustrating brain cell dysfunction in organoid models of fatal familial insomnia compared to controls. (Credit: NIAID) NIAID scientists used a human cerebral organoid model to observe brain cells exposed to prion protein carrying the mutation that causes fatal familial insomnia. Surprisingly, they did not observe spontaneous change in shape or spread of the mutated protein to additional prion protein – typically a trademark of prion disease. Most changes, they found, were caused by the presence of the mutation rather than interacting with prion protein lacking the mutation. They also found that neurons in the FFI organoid model were impaired because of damaged mitochondria – interactions that are the focus of upcoming study. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases  |  National Institutes of Health Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact Subscriber Help. This service is provided to you at no charge by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).                             This email was sent to myhcistech.healthnews360@blogger.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 5601 Fishers Lane · Bethesda, MD 20892 · 1-866-284-4107