It was reported that buffalo is a low susceptibility species resisting to TSEs ( Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies  ) (same as rabbits, horses and dogs). TSEs, also called prion diseases, are invariably fatal and highly infectious neurodegenerative diseases that affect a wide variety of species (in humans prion diseases are (v)CJDs, GSS, FFI, and kulu etc). It was reported that buffalo is a low susceptibility species resisting to prion diseases (as rabbits, dogs, horses). In molecular structures, these neurodegenerative diseases are caused by the conversion from a soluble normal cellular prion protein, predominantly with alpha-helices, into insoluble abnormally folded infectious prions, rich in beta-sheets. This paper studies the molecular structure and structural dynamics of buffalo prion protein, in order to find out the reason why buffaloes are resistant to prion diseases. We first did molecular modeling  a homology structure constructed by one mutation at residue 143 from the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance structure of bovine and cattle PrP(124-227); immediately we found for buffalo PrPC(124-227) there are 5 hydrogen bonds at Asn143, but at this position bovine and cattle do not have such hydrogen bonds. Same as that of rabbits, dogs or horses, our molecular dynamics studies also confirmed there is a strong salt bridge ASP178-ARG164 (O-N) keeping the beta2-alpha2 loop linked  . We also found there is a very strong hydrogen bond SER170-TYR218 linking this loop with the C-terminal end of alpha-helix H3. Many other exciting results, such as (i) there is a very strong salt bridge HIS187-ARG156 (N-O) linking alpha-helices 2 and 1 (if mutation H187R is made at position 187 then the hydrophobic core of PrPC will be exposed  , (ii)  there is a hydrogen bond Y169-D178  for BufPrPC instead of a polar contact Q168-D178 for bovine PrPC, (iii) BufPrPC owns 3-10 helices at 125-127, 152-156 and  the beta2-alpha2 loop respectively, etc, are also being found out .
It was reported that buffalo is a low susceptibility species resisting to Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs ) (same as rabbits, horses and dogs). TSEs, also called prion diseases, are invariably fatal and highly infectious neurodegenerative diseases that affect a wide variety of species . In molecular structures, TSE neurodegenerative diseases are caused by the conversion from a soluble normal cellular prion protein, predominantly with alpha-helices, into insoluble abnormally folded infectious prions, rich in beta-sheets. This paper studies the molecular structure and structural dynamics of buffalo prion protein, in order to reveal the reason why buffalo are resistant to prion diseases. We first did molecular modeling of a homology structure constructed by one mutation at residue 143 from the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance structure of bovine and cattle PrP(124-227); immediately we found for buffalo PrPC(124-227) there are 5 hydrogen bonds at Asn143, but at this position bovine / cattle do not have such hydrogen bonds. Same as that of rabbits, dogs or horses, our molecular dynamics studies also confirmed there is a strong salt bridge ASP178-ARG164 (O-N) keeping the beta2-alpha2 loop linked in buffalo . We also found there is a very strong hydrogen bond SER170-TYR218 linking this loop with the C-terminal end of alpha-helix H3. Other information such as (i) there is a very strong salt bridge HIS187-ARG156 (N-O) linking alpha-helices H2 and H1 (if mutation H187R is made at position 187 then the hydrophobic core of PrPC will be exposed ) , (ii) at D178, there is a hydrogen bond Y169-D178 and a polar contact R164-D178 for BufPrPC instead of a polar contact Q168-D178 for bovine PrPC, (iii) BufPrPC owns 3-10 helices at 125-127, 152-156 and in the beta2-alpha2 loop respectively, etc, has been discovered .
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