Prion

Morpheme

Prion

Type

free base

Denotation

misfolded protein that induces misfolding in normal variants of the same protein and that causes brain and neural diseases

Etymology

modern coinage from “proteinaceous infectious particle” by American neurologist and biochemist Stanley B. Prusiner in 1982

Evidence

prion, prionochezia, prions

Homographs

Prion