title: The changing concepts of amyloid.
abstract: The first issue of the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, published 75 years ago, contained an article by Richard Jaffé on the experimental induction of amyloidosis in mice. This publication was one of a series of milestones that have marked our ongoing and evolving concept of amyloidosis, beginning with the first description by Virchow more than a century ago. Since that time, scientific understanding of amyloidogenesis has expanded through the involvement of newly developed techniques, such as biochemical analysis, electron microscopy, and molecular genetics. As a result of these investigations, it is now known that amyloidoses comprise an entire family of sporadic, familial and/or inherited, degenerative, and infectious disease processes, linked by the common theme of abnormal protein folding and deposition. This article seeks to provide a synopsis of the present state of our knowledge with regard to these disorders, including current terminology, classification, major clinical syndromes, and diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill 60153, USA. mpicken@lumc.edu
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Picken
mesh_terms: D000682:Amyloid / Q000235:genetics / Q000266:history / Q000378:metabolism; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid