prion

(noun)

a self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue

Related Terms

  • chaperone
  • proteinaceous
  • viroid

Examples of prion in the following topics:

  • Prions

    • The word prion, coined in 1982 by Stanley B.
    • When a prion enters a healthy organism, it induces existing, properly folded proteins to convert into the disease-associated prion form; it acts as a template to guide the misfolding of more proteins into prion form.
    • All known mammalian prion diseases are caused by the so-called prion protein, PrP.
    • Proteins showing prion-type behavior are also found in some fungi, which has been useful in helping to understand mammalian prions.
    • However, a model of prion replication must explain both how prions propagate, and why their spontaneous appearance is so rare.
  • Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

    • Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (vCJD) is a fatal neurological disorder which is caused by prions.
    • This is due to a type of infectious protein called a prion .
    • Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases are caused by prions.
    • Thus, the diseases are sometimes called prion diseases.
    • The brown staining is for the prion protein responsible for variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease prion.
  • Prions and Viroids

    • Prions are infectious particles that contain no nucleic acids, and viroids are small plant pathogens that do not encode proteins.
    • Prions, so-called because they are proteinaceous, are infectious particles, smaller than viruses, that contain no nucleic acids (neither DNA nor RNA).
    • It is this variant that constitutes the prion particle.
    • Once introduced into the body, the PrPsc contained within the prion binds to PrPc and converts it to PrPsc.
    • (a) Endogenous normal prion protein (PrPc) is converted into the disease-causing form (PrPsc) when it encounters this variant form of the protein.
  • Intracellular Pathogens

    • A pathogen or infectious agent is a microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its host.
    • A pathogen or infectious agent is a microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its host.
    • According to the prion theory, prions are infectious pathogens that do not contain nucleic acids.
    • Although prions fail to meet the requirements laid out by Koch's postulates, the hypothesis of prions as a new class of pathogen led Stanley B.
    • Stanley Prusiner discovered prions, which are a class of infectious self-reproducing pathogens primarily or solely composed of protein.
  • Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

    • The infectious agent in BSE is believed to be a specific type of misfolded protein called a prion.
    • Prions will not disappear even if the beef containing them is cooked.
    • Prion proteins carry the disease between individuals and cause deterioration of the brain.
    • In the brain, these proteins cause native cellular prion protein to deform into the infectious state, which then goes on to deform further prion protein in an exponential cascade.
    • Different hypotheses exist for the origin of prion proteins in cattle.
  • Protein Folding, Modification, and Targeting

    • A misfolded protein, known as prion, appears to be the agent of a number of rare degenerative brain diseases in mammals, like the mad cow disease.
    • Prion, the misfolded protein, is a normal constituent of brain tissue in all mammals, but its function is not yet known.
    • Prions cannot reproduce independently and not considered living microoganisms.
    • A complete understanding of prion diseases awaits new information about how prion protein affects brain function, as well as more detailed structural information about the protein.
  • Defective Viruses

    • prions (proteins that can exist in a pathological conformation that induces other prion molecules to assume that same conformation)
  • Basic Microbiology

    • Viruses and prions, though not strictly classed as living organisms, are also studied.
  • Exceptions to Koch's Postulates

    • The second postulate may also be suspended for certain microorganisms or entities that cannot (at the present time) be grown in pure culture, such as prions responsible for Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.
  • T Cell Receptors

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