RASGRF2 and infection: We also used qRT-PCR to validate the pre-clinical over-expression of 4 of these genes previously unrecognized as playing a role in prion pathobiology (Table 1 and Figure 5C); RASGRF2, TRIB1, MCL1 and HOMER1 were all confirmed to be up-regulated during the same time period post-infection in CA1 pyramidal neurons.