Question

Prion consists of?
A) DNA
B) RNA
C) Both DNA and RNA
D) Protein

Answer 1

Prion is a mysterious infectious agent responsible for several neurodegenerative diseases found in mammals, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. This mysterious infectious agent is resistant to ultraviolet radiation. It causes various diseases in humans.

Complete answer:
Prions are misfolded proteins, with the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in people and many other animals thus they are very dangerous. It is not known what causes the normal protein to misfold, but the abnormal three-dimensional structure is suspected of conferring infectious properties, converting nearby protein molecules into the same shape.

The word prion is derived from "proteinaceous infectious particle" The role of a protein as an infectious agent stands in contrast to all other known infectious agents such as viroids, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, all of which contain various nucleic acids like DNA, RNA, or both.

Prions form abnormal aggregates of proteins called amyloids. They accumulate in infected tissue and are associated with tissue damage and cell death. Amyloids are also responsible for various other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

DNA is the genetic material found in bacteria and other microorganisms. DNA is also found as a genetic material in viruses that controls the expression and multiplication.RNA is the genetic material found in several viruses like a retrovirus.

Additional Information: The prion protein is found in almost all living organisms. These proteins are inert to the proteases which have the capacity to lyse proteins.

Thus the correct answer is ‘D’ i.e, Protein.

Note: Prions cause neurodegenerative disease in the central nervous system. In humans, prions are believed to be the cause of
i) Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD)
ii) Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome (GSS)
iii) fatal familial insomnia (FFI)
iv) kuru
v) Alzheimer's disease
vi) Parkinson's disease