NR ANXW
AU Ferreira,A.S.; Da Silva,M.A.; Cressoni,J.C.
TI Stochastic modeling approach to the incubation time of prionic diseases
QU Physical Review Letters 2003 May 16; 90(19): 198101
PT journal article
AB Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are neurodegenerative diseases for which prions are the attributed pathogenic agents. A widely accepted theory assumes that prion replication is due to a direct interaction between the pathologic (PrPsc) form and the host-encoded (PrPc) conformation, in a kind of autocatalytic process. Here we show that the overall features of the incubation time of prion diseases are readily obtained if the prion reaction is described by a simple mean-field model. An analytical expression for the incubation time distribution then follows by associating the rate constant to a stochastic variable log normally distributed. The incubation time distribution is then also shown to be log normal and fits the observed BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) data very well. Computer simulation results also yield the correct BSE incubation time distribution at low PrPc densities.
MH Animal; Human; *Models, Biological; Models, Statistical; Prion Diseases/*metabolism; Prions/metabolism; Stochastic Processes; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
AD Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970 Maceio (AL), Brazil.
SP englisch
PO USA