The changing concepts of amyloid.
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.
Picken
M M
MM
Department of Pathology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill 60153, USA. mpicken@lumc.edu
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
D000682:Amyloid