infectious amyloids

Infectious amyloids are abnormal protein structures that can spread between organisms, similar to infectious agents like bacteria or viruses. These proteins fold into a harmful form called amyloids, which can accumulate in tissues, causing diseases such as Alzheimer's or certain prion diseases. Unlike typical proteins that fold correctly, these infectious amyloids have a misfolded shape that makes them capable of inducing other normal proteins to also misfold into amyloids. This ability to "template" folding and spread from one organism to another makes them behave like infectious agents, contributing to disease propagation within and between individuals.