Amyloid: Any of a number of complex proteins that are deposited in tissues and that share selected laboratory features such as a change in the fluorescence intensity of certain aromatic dyes like Congo Red.
The deposition of amyloid occurs in a number of diseases. In many of these, there is disagreement as to whether amyloid causes the disease or is simply a sign of the disease downstream from the cause. (In Alzheimer's disease, those who believe that the deposition of beta-amyloid protein kills neurons are called baptists.)
Amyloid may be deposited widely in the body, as in systemic amyloidosis. Or the deposition of amyloid may be organ-specific and limited, for instance, to the pancreas, as in type 2 diabetes, or the central nervous system, as in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease).
The term amyloid comes from amylo- (starch) + -oid (like) = like starch. This reflects the mistaken identification of the substance as starch based on crude staining techniques.
Library > Literature & Language > Dictionary ( ăm ' ə-loid ' ) n. A starchlike substance. Pathology . A hard waxy deposit consisting of protein and polysaccharides ...
Amyloid: Any of a number of complex proteins that are deposited in tissues and that share selected laboratory features such as a change in the fluorescence intensity of ...
Overview. Amyloidosis is a relatively rare blood disease that develops when protein called amyloid builds up in your organs or body tissues in areas such as your heart ...
GENERAL FEATURES. Cause Deposition of insoluble fibrillar proteins in a β-pleated sheet configuration; General Misfolding of precursor protein leads to aggregation of ...
amyloid /am·y·loid/ (am´Ä-loid) 1. starchlike; amylaceous. 2. the pathologic, extracellular, waxy, amorphous substance deposited in amyloidosis, being composed of ...