title: Structural and functional diversity among amyloid proteins: Agents of disease, building blocks of biology, and implications for molecular engineering.
abstract: Amyloids have long been associated with protein dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases, but recent research has demonstrated that some organisms utilize the unique properties of the amyloid fold to create functional structures with important roles in biological processes. Additionally, new engineering approaches have taken advantage of amyloid structures for implementation in a wide variety of materials and devices. In this review, the role of amyloid in human disease is discussed and compared to the functional amyloids, which serve a largely structural purpose. We then consider the use of amyloid constructs in engineering applications, including their utility as building blocks for synthetic biology and molecular engineering. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 7-20. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355013, Seattle, Washington, 98195-5013.
authors.forename: Alissa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bleem
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355013, Seattle, Washington, 98195-5013.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Daggett
mesh_terms: D058227:Amyloidogenic Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D057005:Bioengineering; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D017510:Protein Folding
chemical_list: D058227:Amyloidogenic Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: amyloid; amyloid materials; functional amyloid; protein misfolding; toxic oligomers