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Folding@Home - impressive claims

RayG

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RayG
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Hadn't heard of Folding@Home until today, but I see JREF and many members are involved.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154&highlight=folding@home

Their hompage claims that 'misfolded' proteins can cause serious consequences "including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes."

The page also states: "Your participation can help lead to a cure for these diseases."

On the FAQ page, they say: "What happens if proteins don't fold correctly? Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis, BSE (Mad Cow disease), an inherited form of emphysema, and even many cancers are believed to result from protein misfolding. When proteins misfold, they can clump together ("aggregate"). These clumps can often gather in the brain, where they are believed to cause the symptoms of Mad Cow or Alzheimer's disease."

Is there any evidence that shows 'misfolded' proteins cause these diseases, and that my participation can lead to their cure?

RayG
 
Well, first up it's being run by Stanford University, possibly the most renowned and respected science uni in the world.
Secondly, they've recently published their first set of peer reviewed results, so if you have any doubts over the validity of the process that should put your mind at ease.
There are some links on their site pointing towards a more in-depth explanation of protein folding, but they appear to be b0rked, at least on this machine here.

I've got a few PCs in various places all running the software for this. I'm much happier doing this kind of distributed computing than SETI.
 
brettDbass said:
Well, first up it's being run by Stanford University, possibly the most renowned and respected science uni in the world.
Click to expand...

An appeal to authority? Regardless of their renown, is there any evidence that shows 'misfolded' proteins cause these diseases? ("Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes")

Secondly, they've recently published their first set of peer reviewed results, so if you have any doubts over the validity of the process that should put your mind at ease.
Click to expand...

It's not the process I question, it's their claim of disease causation.

There are some links on their site pointing towards a more in-depth explanation of protein folding, but they appear to be b0rked, at least on this machine here.
Click to expand...

Again, it's not the protein folding process I question, it's their claim that protein folding is causing "Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes."

If they believe protein folding causes these diseases, where are the peer-reviewed results which support this belief?

RayG
 
brettDbass said:
Oh yes, you're right. Try these then...

http://bioresearch.ac.uk/browse/mesh/D017510.html - lots of useful links here

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Research/Cause/ - they make a simplified claim which implies that it's a well understood and accepted process.

http://www.nature.com/horizon/proteinfolding/background/disease.html - somewhat less than absolutely conclusive, but evidence is strongly pointing this way.

Hope that's useful.
Click to expand...

Thanks, some excellent links. It appears I have some homework to do.

RayG
 
RayG said:
An appeal to authority? Regardless of their renown, is there any evidence that shows 'misfolded' proteins cause these diseases? ("Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes")...
Click to expand...
IIRC, in a nutshell, a given protein's shape determines its function. If a protein was synthesized incorrectly, it won't have the shape it needs to function as intended. I think their wording's a bit confusing, but I can see what they mean. For example, with muscular dystrophy, the protein called dystrophin (which is necessary for muscle cell structure & support) is not synthesized properly (i.e. "misfolded"), which causes the muscle cells to weaken and burst during contraction. The abnormally synthesized dystrophin may or may not actually be dystrophin, but whatever it is, its "misfolded" shape is abnormal and impedes or halts its function.

That's my take on what they're saying, anyway.

*edited to try and make some sense*


My caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.
 
Last edited:
Nex said:
IIRC, in a nutshell, a given protein's shape determines its function. If a protein was synthesized incorrectly, it won't have the shape it needs to function as intended. I think their wording's a bit confusing, but I can see what they mean. For example, with muscular dystrophy, the protein called dystrophin (which is necessary for muscle cell structure & support) is not synthesized properly (i.e. "misfolded"), which causes the muscle cells to weaken and burst during contraction. The abnormally synthesized dystrophin may or may not actually be dystrophin, but whatever it is, its "misfolded" shape is abnormal and impedes or halts its function.
Click to expand...

That's pretty close. It's not just a synthesis issue, however. It can also be, literally, a folding and re-folding process. A typical chain of amino acides will often have several different 'stable' configurations into which it will naturally fall, of which only one will have the necessary shape to function as needed. When it is synthesized, it will usually tend to fall into the correct shape, but of course chemistry is partly random and if the molecule gets jiggled in just the wrong way, it will fall into the wrong shape and not do the right thing.

There are also enzymes -- which are of course proteins in and of themselves -- that have the function of reshaping other proteins into the "correct" shape.

The interesting stuff are the "infectious prions." These are proteins that have the functions of shaping other, naturally occuring proteins into other shapes (like normal enzymes), but the new shape they create is a copy of themselves. In other words, they are self-replicating devices with a unique and self-transmitting folding pattern. But because they're a non-standard pattern, the 'prions' with this new shape can't do the old job -- and people get sick.
 
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