[cgriswald]

I’m not clear on the mechanism by which the prion encourages other proteins to fold the same way. Is the protein interacting with the other protein directly like an Ice IX situation? Is it an interaction between the body and the prion, like the prion causing the body to create an enzyme which interacts which then folds the next protein? Something else?

[TeMPOraL]

From what I've read, it seems accepted that the mechanism is closer to Ice-nine - a bad protein shows up next to a good one, and causes the latter to re-fold into a copy of the bad one. The exact mechanism of this is not known.