Raeber A J, Klein M A, Frigg R, Brandner S, Blättler T, Aguzzi A
Institut für Neuropathologie, Universitätsspital, Zürich, Schweiz.
Wien Med Wochenschr. 1998;148(4):74-7.
Prion disease or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are caused by novel pathogens termed prions. Unlike classical infectious agents such as viruses or bacteria, prions lack an independent genome and consist largely if not entirely of an abnormal form of the host-encoded prion protein. How prions multiply is not known. A wealth of experimental evidence supports an essential role for the host-encoded prion protein in susceptibility and pathogenesis of prion diseases and in the propagation and spread of prions. In addition, B lymphocytes have been found to play a crucial role in the neuroinvasiveness of prions.
朊病毒病或传染性海绵状脑病是由一种名为朊病毒的新型病原体引起的。与病毒或细菌等经典感染因子不同，朊病毒缺乏独立的基因组，并且如果不是完全由宿主编码的朊病毒蛋白的异常形式组成，也主要由其组成。朊病毒如何增殖尚不清楚。大量实验证据支持宿主编码的朊病毒蛋白在朊病毒病的易感性和发病机制以及朊病毒的传播和扩散中起关键作用。此外，已发现B淋巴细胞在朊病毒的神经侵袭中起关键作用。
