Biologic and biochemical features of prion pathogenesis
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Abstract
Prions are the causative agents of a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Prions are unique in that disease is initiated when the normal prion protein (PrPC) undergoes a conformational change and propagates through a process of templated conversion to an infectious, misfolded, isoform (PrPRES, PrPCWD, or PrPSc) which can assemble into oligomers and amyloid fibrils. Disease is associated with prion accumulation in the central nervous system, causing the pathologic lesions of neurodegeneration, white matter spongiosis, and a reactive ...
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