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Amyloid
Amyloid describes various types of protein aggregations that share specific traits when examined microscopically. The name amyloid comes from the early mistaken identification of the substance as starch (amylum in Latin), based on crude iodine-staining techniques. For a period the scientific community debated whether or not amyloid deposits were fatty deposits or carbohydrate deposits until it was finally resolved that it was neither, rather a deposition of proteinaceous mass.
The phenotypes of genetically transmitted amyloid diseases are often inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. Sometimes, the difference between aggressive amyloid diseases and senescent amyloid diseases is due to a mutation which makes the protein more prone to aggregation. Most commonly seen are point mutations which affect the cohesiveness of the protein and promote misfolding; other mutations cause aggregation-prone pieces of the protein to be cleaved off from the rest of the protein.
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