Conformational changes and disease - serpins, prions and Alzheimer's

Some of the most perplexing disorders in medicine are each now known to ari se from the conformational instability of an underlying protein. The conseq uence is a continuum of pathologies with typically a change in fold leading to ordered aggregation and tissue deposition, The serpins provide a struct ural prototype for these pathologies and give a perspective on the assessme nt of current proposals as to the conformational basis of both Alzheimer's disease and the transmissible prion encephalopathies.