Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins
Theodor (“Ted”) Otto Diener (* 28 February 1921 in Zürich, Switzerland; † 28 March 2023 in Beltsville, MD, USA) pioneered research on viroids while working at the Plant Virology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Beltsville. He coined the name viroid and defined viroids’ important f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Viruses |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/3/360 |
| _version_ | 1827304781161431040 |
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| author | Gerhard Steger Detlev Riesner Stanley B. Prusiner |
| author_facet | Gerhard Steger Detlev Riesner Stanley B. Prusiner |
| author_sort | Gerhard Steger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Theodor (“Ted”) Otto Diener (* 28 February 1921 in Zürich, Switzerland; † 28 March 2023 in Beltsville, MD, USA) pioneered research on viroids while working at the Plant Virology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Beltsville. He coined the name viroid and defined viroids’ important features like the infectivity of naked single-stranded RNA without protein-coding capacity. During scientific meetings in the 1970s and 1980s, viroids were often discussed at conferences together with other “subviral pathogens”. This term includes what are now called satellite RNAs and prions. Satellite RNAs depend on a helper virus and have linear or, in the case of virusoids, circular RNA genomes. Prions, proteinaceous infectious particles, are the agents of scrapie, kuru and some other diseases. Many satellite RNAs, like viroids, are non-coding and exert their function by thermodynamically or kinetically controlled folding, while prions are solely host-encoded proteins that cause disease by misfolding, aggregation and transmission of their conformations into infectious prion isoforms. In this memorial, we will recall the work of Ted Diener on subviral pathogens. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:46:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-525f4aa56a7d419b8342b9ce39947de4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:46:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Viruses |
| spelling | doaj.art-525f4aa56a7d419b8342b9ce39947de42024-03-27T14:07:39ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152024-02-0116336010.3390/v16030360Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of ProteinsGerhard Steger0Detlev Riesner1Stanley B. Prusiner2Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, GermanyInstitut für Physikalische Biologie, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, GermanyInstitute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USATheodor (“Ted”) Otto Diener (* 28 February 1921 in Zürich, Switzerland; † 28 March 2023 in Beltsville, MD, USA) pioneered research on viroids while working at the Plant Virology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Beltsville. He coined the name viroid and defined viroids’ important features like the infectivity of naked single-stranded RNA without protein-coding capacity. During scientific meetings in the 1970s and 1980s, viroids were often discussed at conferences together with other “subviral pathogens”. This term includes what are now called satellite RNAs and prions. Satellite RNAs depend on a helper virus and have linear or, in the case of virusoids, circular RNA genomes. Prions, proteinaceous infectious particles, are the agents of scrapie, kuru and some other diseases. Many satellite RNAs, like viroids, are non-coding and exert their function by thermodynamically or kinetically controlled folding, while prions are solely host-encoded proteins that cause disease by misfolding, aggregation and transmission of their conformations into infectious prion isoforms. In this memorial, we will recall the work of Ted Diener on subviral pathogens.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/3/360potato spindle tuber viroid<i>Pospiviroidae</i><i>Avsunviroidae</i>virusoidsatellite RNA of cucumber mosaic virusprion diseases |
| spellingShingle | Gerhard Steger Detlev Riesner Stanley B. Prusiner Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins Viruses potato spindle tuber viroid <i>Pospiviroidae</i> <i>Avsunviroidae</i> virusoid satellite RNA of cucumber mosaic virus prion diseases |
| title | Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins |
| title_full | Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins |
| title_fullStr | Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins |
| title_full_unstemmed | Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins |
| title_short | Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins |
| title_sort | viroids satellite rnas and prions folding of nucleic acids and misfolding of proteins |
| topic | potato spindle tuber viroid <i>Pospiviroidae</i> <i>Avsunviroidae</i> virusoid satellite RNA of cucumber mosaic virus prion diseases |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/3/360 |
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