The molecular structures of the infectious agents that cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases are still not known despite the current wide acceptance of the prion hypothesis as the basis for their resolution. Here, data supporting and challenging the prion hypothesis in relation to both the biochemical and biological properties of TSE infectious agents are discussed. The need for the independent transmission of TSE agent-specific genetic information is described and the requirements for the molecule to carry this information are proposed. Such a molecule is likely to be a small nucleic acid encoding information to determine the diversity of the pathogenesis of TSE agents.

中文翻译：

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TSE毒株和PrP：协调结构和功能。

尽管目前已广泛接受病毒假说作为其解决基础，但仍不清楚导致传染性海绵状脑病（TSE）疾病的传染原的分子结构。在这里，讨论了支持和挑战与TSE感染因子的生化和生物学特性有关的病毒假说的数据。描述了独立传输TSE剂特异性遗传信息的需求，并提出了携带该信息的分子的要求。这样的分子很可能是小的核酸，其编码信息决定了TSE药物的发病机理。