cofactors, may form part of the infectious prion, or act as catalysts for the replication of a protein-only prion. Considering that the cofactors can be produced by chemical synthesis instead of being sourced solely from infected cases (or any animal at all), it is fair to say that they do not form the infectious part of the prion. However, these catalysts (especially the polyanion) do have a tendency to be included in the prion aggregate, which makes seeding new aggregates easier in vitro.

Classification