Micro 56: Prion Diseases
This episode concludes the virology section with an agent that defies traditional classification: the prion. Drawing from Murray’s Chapter 56, it explores infectious disease caused not by bacteria or viruses, but by misfolded protein.
Prions lack nucleic acid. Instead, a normal cellular protein (PrPᶜ) undergoes conformational change into a pathogenic isoform (PrPˢᶜ). This altered structure induces further misfolding in neighbouring proteins, creating a cascade of abnormal accumulation.
The result is spongiform degeneration of neural tissue, leading to rapidly progressive neurodegenerative…
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