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On safari with PrP: prion diseases of animals
D Westaway1, G A Carlson, S B Prusiner
1Dept of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.
Trends in Microbiology
|April 1, 1995
Abstract:
Prions are infectious pathogens that cause fatal neurodegeneration in humans and animals and are composed largely, or entirely, of an aberrant isoform of the host-encoded prion protein (PrP). A post-translational process involving a conformational change in PrP is a significant feature of their replication. Differences in PrP sequences modify the incubation times, neuropathology and properties of prion 'strains'.