A prion is a misfolded protein that induces folding problems in normal variants of the same protein, leading to cellular death. The cited article says prions are responsible for prion diseases, which are fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases affecting animals, including humans, that the proteins can misfold sporadically, due to genetic mutations, or through exposure to an already misfolded protein, leading to an abnormal three-dimensional structure that can propagate misfolding in other proteins, and that the term derives from proteinaceous infectious particle. Pests and diseases recorded in the atlas as caused by a prion are grouped under this concept.
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1. Prion
Article text
In his 1982 paper introducing the term, Prusiner specified that it is "pronounced pree-on".
Wikipedia, lead section
A prion ( ) is a misfolded protein that induces folding problems in normal variants of the same protein, leading to cellular death.
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