| / English Dictionary |
PRION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("prion" is a kind of...):
particle; subatomic particle (a body having finite mass and internal structure but negligible dimensions)
Domain category:
microbiology (the branch of biology that studies microorganisms and their effects on humans)
Context examples:
Scientists hope that early diagnosis of prion and related diseases—such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia with Lewy bodies—could lead to effective treatments that slow or prevent these diseases.
(Eyes of CJD patients show evidence of prions, National Institutes of Health)
Researchers screened tissues for prion disease using several tests and found no clinical, pathological or biochemical evidence suggesting that CWD was transmitted to macaques.
(Study finds no chronic wasting disease transmissibility in macaques, National Institutes of Health)
The researchers adapted a diagnostic test originally developed for prion diseases to detect abnormal clusters of tau protein.
(New test detects protein associated with Alzheimer’s and CTE, National Institutes of Health)
Scientists using an experimental treatment have slowed the progression of scrapie, a degenerative central nervous disease caused by prions, in laboratory mice and greatly extended the rodents’ lives.
(Experimental treatment slows prion disease, extends life of mice, National Institutes of Health)
The scientists also exposed a dozen healthy mice to skin extracts from two of the CJD patients, and all developed prion disease.
(NIH scientists and collaborators find infectious prion protein in skin of CJD patients, National Institutes of Health)
Previous studies have shown that the eyes of CJD patients contain infectious prions, though the distribution of prions among the various components of the eye was not known.
(Eyes of CJD patients show evidence of prions, National Institutes of Health)
Sporadic CJD is the most common human prion disease, affecting about one in one million people annually worldwide.
(Study finds no chronic wasting disease transmissibility in macaques, National Institutes of Health)
Scrapie, which affects sheep and goats and can be adapted to rodents, is closely related to human prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is currently untreatable.
(Experimental treatment slows prion disease, extends life of mice, National Institutes of Health)
RT-QuIC correctly detected abnormal prion protein in each CJD patient sample tested and in none of the non-CJD group.
(NIH scientists and collaborators find infectious prion protein in skin of CJD patients, National Institutes of Health)
Prion diseases originate when normally harmless prion protein molecules become abnormal and gather in clusters and filaments in the body and brain.
(Eyes of CJD patients show evidence of prions, National Institutes of Health)
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