Abstract: PrP^Sc is the misfording of the normal cellular form of the prion protein(PrP^C), They are coincidence between Amino Acid sequence, PrP^Sc has a high β-sheet content, while PrP^c is abundant on α-helical structure. Scientists have not study the function clearly. During the process of people and animal infect with or get PrP, Most scientists think some important cofactors influence pathological change such as the structure change of PrP^c , spread of PrP^Sc, and PrP^Sc leads to the dead of nerve cell, so researching of this cofactors will help us to explain this questions, this cofactors consisit of many metal ions, such as Ca²⁺,Fe²⁺,Cu²⁺,Mn²⁺. We discribe the influence of metal ion on PrP struction and function, and they may be effect on the pathogenesy of TSEs.

Key words: prion disease; Ca²⁺; Fe²⁺; Cu²⁺; Zn²⁺; Mn²⁺