amyloid
IPA: ˈæmɪɫɔɪd
noun
- A waxy compound of protein and polysaccharides that is found deposited in tissues in amyloidosis.
- Any of various starchlike substances.
adjective
- Containing or resembling starch.
- (mycology) Applied to a mushroom that turns blue-black upon application of Melzer's reagent
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Examples of "amyloid" in Sentences
- The buildup of tangled proteins called amyloid plaques in brain tissue is a primary marker of Alzheimer's disease.
- Scientists say a protein called beta amyloid is responsible for most of the damage to the brain and the symptoms of the disease.
- Scientists have shown how the body's natural way of ridding the body of the toxic protein amyloid-beta is flawed in people with the disease.
- The radioactive chemicals tag amyloid in the brain and light up during subsequent brain scans, allowing clinicians to see whether amyloid is present.
- No one knew where this pesky filament came from until 1987, when researchers discovered it was part of a larger molecule they dubbed the amyloid-precursor protein (APP).
- The exact causes of Alzheimer's are still unknown, but clumps of a sticky substance called amyloid and masses of tau protein in the brain are thought to be key factors in its development.
- Among the possible advances in early detection are chemical tracers, some of which tag clumps of a sticky substance in the brain called amyloid, and others that mark amyloid and a protein called tau—both thought to contribute to the disease.
- But over the years, researchers say, what has become known as the amyloid hypothesis - the notion that overproduction or reduced clearance of amyloid beta is a cause of the disease and blocking amyloid beta could stop it - dominated their thinking.
- A large number of investigational therapies target a sticky substance called amyloid, which clumps in the brain of those with Alzheimer's and is thought to contribute to the disease, but so far no drug has consistently shown that targeting amyloid leads to improvements in cognitive symptoms.
- "They work hand in hand, one after the other and act like scissors, cutting up this [APP] protein into smaller bits and smaller bits called amyloid peptide, which we think is the cause of Alzheimer's disease when it's abnormally accumulated in the brain," explained study senior author Philip C. Wong, a professor of pathology and of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
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