TheActualUrtie t1_j2bofez wrote on December 31, 2022 at 1:40 AM

Reply to comment by 97screamingcacti in If collagen is a protein, and proteins are broken down during digestion, why would collagen or collagen supplements be beneficial? Is it just hype? by skepticated

I am probably misunderstanding this, but isn't mad cow disease caused by a protein? How does that happen if they're always broken down?

CrateDane t1_j2d9qlb wrote on December 31, 2022 at 11:36 AM

They're almost always broken down, but there are exceptions. In our gut, there is for example a cell type that's taking small samples of the proteins and longer peptides, in order to feed "information" to our immune system about what might be lurking in our gut. Unfortunately that includes prions. Some of the prions end up in neurons rather than the immune cells, and that's where the problem can happen. In principle it only takes one single prion to trigger the disease.