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Koch’s postulates and infectious proteins

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Abstract

Koch’s postulates were formulated in the late nineteenth century as guidelines for establishing that microbes cause specific diseases. Because the rules were developed for living agents—particularly bacteria—their applicability to inanimate pathogens such as viruses and infectious proteins has been problematic. The unorthodox mechanism by which prion diseases are transmitted, involving specific physicochemical characteristics of the protein as well as susceptibility traits of the host, has made these disorders refractory to analysis within the context of the original Koch’s postulates. In addition, evidence is accumulating that other proteopathies, such as AA amyloidosis, apolipoprotein AII amyloidosis, and cerebral Aβ amyloidosis, can be induced in vulnerable recipients by cognate proteinaceous agents. In light of the salient differences in the mode of disease-transmission by microbes and proteins, we propose modifications of Koch’s postulates that will specifically accommodate presumed infectious proteins.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ingo Autenrieth, John Hardy, Jens Pahnke, Rebecca Rosen, Margaret Walker and Rolf Warzok for helpful discussions. This work was supported by grants from the Woodruff Foundation, NIH (RR-00165), by the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Chandler Medical Center of the University of Kentucky, and by the Alzheimer’s Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Lary Walker

  2. Center on Aging, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Harry LeVine

  3. Department of Cellular Neurology, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Mathias Jucker

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  1. Lary Walker
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  2. Harry LeVine
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Correspondence to Lary Walker.

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Walker, L., LeVine, H. & Jucker, M. Koch’s postulates and infectious proteins. Acta Neuropathol 112, 1–4 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-006-0072-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-006-0072-x

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