A 15-minute search yields: we don't know how prions infect a cell. "the underlying mechanism of infection remains unresolved" http://www.plosbiology.org/articl

A 15-minute search yields: we don't know how prions infect a cell. "the underlying mechanism of infection remains unresolved" http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0060100 http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjo... "the exact physiological function of PrPC and the mechanism of neurotoxicity are still unknown" http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cp/2010/00000007/00000001/art00004 http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cp/2010/00000007/0... ...I did run across this interesting paper suggesting that prions could be a widely-used regulatory mechanism rather than an aberration, however: http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v11/n12/abs/nrm3007.html http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v11/n12/abs/nrm3007.html