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PRIONS TEMPLATE NORMAL PROTEINS. "These newly formed mis-folded proteins, in turn, act as further templates for the conversion of more normal proteins, leading to an exponential accumulation of prions in the tissue of the central nervous system. These abnormally folded proteins form plaques which are thought to cause "entanglement" of neurofibrils and interfere with synapse function." https://lnkd.in/e6wAxB5 View in LinkedIn

"PRIONS are the only known infectious agents that do not contain DNA or RNA." https://lnkd.in/e7FiuTa View in LinkedIn

PRIONS, ABNORMALLY FOLDED PROTEINS. "A prion is composed of abnormally folded protein that causes progressive neurodegenerative conditions. These mis-folded proteins do not multiply in the host organism that they infect. Instead, they affect the brain structure by acting as a template, inducing proteins with normal folding to convert to the abnormal prion form." https://lnkd.in/e6wAxB5 View in LinkedIn

THE PRION HYPOTHESIS instead "claims that there is a source of information within protein molecules that contributes to their biological function, and that this information can be passed on to other molecules. But the protein molecules are still manufactured according to the instructions contained in nucleic acid. The additional information source is the conformation or shape of the protein molecule." https://lnkd.in/e4dnA_x View in LinkedIn

PRIONS, INFECTIOUS PARTICLES. "The term "prion" is derived from proteinacious infectious particle and refers to the pathogen that causes transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). This small infectious particle is a disease-causing form of a protein called cellular prion protein (PrPc). PrPc is mainly found on the surface of cells in the central nervous system, but it is also located in other bodily tissues." https://lnkd.in/e6wAxB5 View in LinkedIn

"THE PRION HYPOTHESIS is not heretical to the central dogma of molecular biology -- that the information necessary to manufacture proteins is encoded in the nucleotide sequence of nucleic acid -- because it does not claim that proteins replicate." https://lnkd.in/e4dnA_x View in LinkedIn

HERESY. "In 1982, Stanley Prusiner coined the term `prion' to emphasize the agent's proteinaceous nature. This infectious protein hypothesis was denounced by many scientists as `heretical'." https://lnkd.in/e7jbRYZ View in LinkedIn

REMARKABLE activity for an oddly folded bit of normal protein. This is why prions are so confounding. View in LinkedIn

NO TREATMENT. "Prion strains differ, but they do have one thing in common: they're incurable. The prion plaques can't be removed from the brain without killing the patient. Prions cannot be destroyed by antibiotics, chemotherapy, or anti-viral medications. So far, no treatment has been shown to cure a prion-infected animal or human." http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040216/killer.shtml View in LinkedIn

CROSS-SPECIES PRION INFECTIVITY. "CJD from humans can infect laboratory rodents. BSE from cattle has been used to infect macaques. And, in 1996, clinicians in the United Kingdom described new variant CJD (nvCJD), a prion disease in humans that was believed to be caused by eating beef from BSE-infected cattle." http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040216/killer.shtml View in LinkedIn