Neurotoxic prion protein (PrP) fragment 106-126 requires the N-terminal half of the hydrophobic region of PrP in the PrP-deficient neuronal cell line.

The cytotoxicity of aged PrP(106-126) was examined using an immortalized prion protein (PrP) gene-deficient neuronal cell line. The N-terminal half of the hydrophobic region (HR) but not the octapeptide repeat (OR) of PrP was required for aged PrP(106-126) neurotoxicity, suggesting that neurotoxic signals of aged PrP(106-126) are mediated by this region.