传染性海绵样脑病病原的研究进展

Research progress on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies

传染性海绵样脑病因疯牛病的爆发和新型克雅氏病的出现而引起人们的关注。研究发现，疯牛病的流行可能是由羊痒病的病原引起的，这种病原被Prusiner命名为“Prion”（1982）。从80年代开始研究以来，越来越多的关于Prion的特性被人们所了解，比如Prion蛋白和PrP基因。本文综述了近几年来研究者们用不同手段从各个角度对病原进行研究的新进展。

It is the epidemic of BSE and the first recognized disease nv-CJD that lures ourattention of TSEs. It appears that the epidemic was initiated by the presence of the agent ofscrapie, which was termed 'Prion' by Prusiner in 1982. From the research work begin with 1980's,more and more characters of the agent were known, such as 'Prion gene' and its production 'Prionprotein'. The article reviewed research progress of the agent in recent years.