title: Synthetic prions.
abstract: The prion theory postulates that prions are novel infectious agents that are composed largely, if not entirely, of abnormally folded host-encoded prion proteins. However, the existence of different prion strains is enigma, if these novel infectious agents lack a genetic element, such as a nucleic acid. The best proof for this 'protein-only' concept would be the in vitro generation of prions from synthetic sources. Indeed, a substantial body of evidence has meanwhile been accumulated in favour of this postulate. This mini review recapitulates all relevant studies and experimental data on the generation of synthetic prions.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases (INEID) at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Boddenblick 5a, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eiden
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buschmann
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kupfer
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Groschup
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D011328:Prions / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011328:Prions