If a drug could be made that inhibits this fragmentation process, it could substantially slow the spread of prions, which cause mad cow disease and scrapie in animals and, in rare cases, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease and kuru in humans.

• 药物可阻滞这些蛋白裂解片段过程，从而持久的减慢朊病毒传播，包括疯牛病和绵羊疯痒病和一些人类罕见疾病克-雅二氏病和库鲁病等疾病的传播。