Open AccessRNAs That Behave Like Prions
Author(s) -
Arcady Mushegian,
Santiago F. Elena
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
msphere
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.749
H-Index - 39
ISSN - 2379-5042
DOI - 10.1128/msphere.00520-20
Subject(s) - ribozyme , fungal prion , rna , biology , viroid , prion protein , computational biology , phenotype , genetics , virology , gene , medicine , disease , pathology
The term “prion” was originally coined to describe the proteinaceous infectious agents involved in mammalian neurological disorders. More recently, a prion has been defined as a nonchromosomal, protein-based genetic element that is capable of converting the copies of its own benign variant into the prion form, with the new phenotypic effects that can be transmitted through the cytoplasm. Some prions are toxic to the cell, are able to aggregate and/or form amyloid structures, and may be infectious in the wild, but none of those traits are seen as an integral property of all prions.