Alley, Emilio (2012) Prion : infectious agent. Research World, Delhi, India. ISBN 9788132332053
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Abstract
A prion is an infectious agent composed of protein in a misfolded form. This is in contrast to all other known infectious agents, which must contain nucleic acids (either DNA, RNA, or both) along with protein components. The word prion, coined in 1982 by Stanley B. Prusiner, is a portmanteau derived from the words protein and infection. Prions are responsible for the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in a variety of mammals, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as "mad cow disease") in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. All known prions diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue and all are currently untreatable and universally fatal. Prions propagate by transmitting a misfolded protein state. When a prion enters a healthy organism, the prion form of a protein induces existing, properly-folded protein to convert into the disease-associated, prion form, the prion acts as a template to guide the misfolding of more protein into prion form. These newly-formed prions can then go on to convert more proteins themselves, this triggers a chain reaction that produces large amounts of the prion form. All known prions induce the formation of an amyloid fold, in which the protein polymerises into an aggregate consisting of tightly packed beta sheets. Amyloid aggregates are fibrils, growing at their ends, and replicating when breakage causes two growing ends to become four growing ends. The incubation period of prion diseases is determined by the exponential growth rate associated with prion replication, which is a balance between the linear growth and the breakage of aggregates (Note that the propagation of the prion depends on the presence of normally-folded protein in which prion protein cannot develop or transmit the disease.)
| Item Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QR Microbiology |
| Divisions: | Electronic Books |
| Depositing User: | Esam @ Hisham Muhammad |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Feb 2023 06:46 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Feb 2023 06:46 |
| URI: | http://odlsystem2.utm.my/id/eprint/3964 |
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