| Description |
Amyloids are highly organized peptide/protein aggregates that are associated with both neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease and native functions like skin pigmentation and secretory granules biogenesis. Amyloid proteins self-polymerize in a nucleation-dependent manner by recruiting their soluble protein counterpart and are stable against harsh physical, chemical and biochemical conditions. These extraordinary properties make amyloids attractive for applications in nano-biotechnology. Mother nature also utilizes this primitive amyloid fold for many biological functions. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms of protein aggregation and amyloid formation either associated with diseases or native biological functions and to develop structure-function relationship of amyloids.
References:
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