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Viroids and prions.

T O Diener, M P McKinley, S B Prusiner

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    |September 1, 1982
    PubMed
    Summary

    Viroids like potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV) are infectious RNA pathogens. The scrapie agent, a proteinaceous infectious particle, differs fundamentally from viroids and viruses due to its unique resistance to nucleic acid and protein-modifying agents.

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    Area of Science:

    • * Molecular virology and infectious disease research.
    • * Pathogen characterization and classification.

    Background:

    • * Viroids are small, non-encapsulated infectious RNA molecules pathogenic to plants.
    • * The potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV) is a well-characterized plant viroid.
    • * The scrapie agent causes a degenerative neurological disease in animals and its nature remains debated.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • * To compare the biochemical properties of PSTV and the scrapie agent.
    • * To differentiate the inactivation profiles of PSTV and the scrapie agent under various treatments.
    • * To provide evidence for the distinct nature of the scrapie agent.

    Main Methods:

    • * Comparative analysis of inactivation susceptibility of PSTV and scrapie agent.
    • * Treatment with nucleases (ribonuclease), nucleic acid modifying agents (psoralen, Zn2+, NH2OH), and protein-modifying agents (proteinase K, trypsin, diethylpyrocarbonate, phenol, NaDodSO4, KSCN, urea).

    Main Results:

    • * PSTV was inactivated by agents targeting nucleic acids but resisted protein-modifying agents.
    • * The scrapie agent resisted nucleic acid-modifying agents but was inactivated by protein-modifying agents.
    • * The scrapie agent's properties are distinct from both viroids and viruses.

    Conclusions:

    • * The scrapie agent's resistance to nucleic acid-modifying procedures and susceptibility to protein-modifying procedures distinguishes it from viroids.
    • * The findings support the classification of the scrapie agent as a novel infectious entity, termed prion.
    • * Prions are proteinaceous infectious particles lacking a nucleic acid genome.

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