朊病毒 / Prion

中文解释
朊病毒，又称“蛋白质侵染因子”，是一种不同寻常的传染性病原体。它不是传统意义上的病毒或细菌，不含有遗传物质（DNA或RNA），其本质是一种具有错误折叠构象的蛋白质。

这种错误折叠的蛋白质（朊病毒）能够诱导体内正常的、结构相同的蛋白质也发生错误折叠，从而在大脑中积聚，引发致命的神经退行性疾病。这些疾病通常影响脑组织，使其变成海绵状，因此也被称为“传染性海绵状脑病”。

知名的人类和动物疾病包括：

· 疯牛病（牛海绵状脑病）
· 人类克雅二氏病

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English Explanation
A prion,short for "proteinaceous infectious particle," is an unusual type of infectious agent. It is not a virus or bacterium in the traditional sense, as it contains no genetic material (DNA or RNA). Its essential component is a misfolded form of a protein.

This misfolded protein (the prion) can induce other normally folded proteins of the same type to also misfold. These abnormal proteins then accumulate in the brain, leading to fatal neurodegenerative diseases. These conditions often cause brain tissue to become sponge-like, hence the name "transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)".

Well-known human and animal diseases caused by prions include:

· Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, BSE)
· Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans

核心概念对照 / Key Concepts Comparison

中文 English
朊病毒 Prion
蛋白质侵染因子 Proteinaceous infectious particle
错误折叠 Misfolded
正常蛋白质 Normal protein (PrP^C)
传染性海绵状脑病 Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE)
神经退行性疾病 Neurodegenerative disease
疯牛病 Mad Cow Disease (BSE)
克雅二氏病 Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)