Piasecki E
Laboratorium Wirusologii Instytutu Immunologii i Terapii Doświadczalnej PAN, Wrocławiu.
Postepy Hig Med Dosw. 1993;47(2):89-102.
Prions are proteinaceous infectious particles. They are probably devoid of nucleic acid. Prion protein (PrP) is encoded by the normal cellular gene. Pathological isoform of prion protein has different conformation than the normal PrP protein. The exact nature of the posttranslational modification of prion protein is unknown. This modification may be caused by infection with prions (infectious disease) or occurs spontaneously (sporadic disease). Some mutations in PrP gene results in the production of pathological protein (familial disease).
朊病毒是蛋白质性感染颗粒。它们可能不含核酸。朊病毒蛋白（PrP）由正常细胞基因编码。朊病毒蛋白的病理异构体与正常PrP蛋白具有不同的构象。朊病毒蛋白翻译后修饰的确切性质尚不清楚。这种修饰可能由朊病毒感染引起（传染性疾病）或自发发生（散发性疾病）。PrP基因中的一些突变导致病理性蛋白的产生（家族性疾病）。
