Prions

Prions:-

> Prions are infectious agents, which are responsible for several neurodegenerative diseases in mammals. 

> These infectious agents are primarily composed of sialoglycoprotein – a combination of sialic acid and glycoprotein and usually lack nucleic acid.

> Stanley Prusiner, an American neurobiologist proposed that the prions are infectious proteins. 

> Based on his discoveries, he also proposed that they were responsible for the cause of scrapie. 

> Scrapie is a type of neurological disease, affecting the nervous systems of animals, especially sheep and goats. 

> Later, he coined the term prion for proteinaceous infectious.

> In both humans and animals, these infectious agents cause a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and are mainly caused due to the abnormal folding of the proteins in the brain.

> In humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Fatal familial insomnia, Dementia are a few examples of diseases caused by prions.