Amyloid formation - from molecular mechanisms to disease and novel nanomaterials
Protein self-association into amyloid oligomers and fibrils and their deposition in the body is a hallmark of a number of human pathologies including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, diabetes mellitus and others. We study in depth the multiple faces of this phenomenon, including structural and regulatory mechanisms governing amyloid formation in vivo and in vitro , cytotoxicity of amyloids and misfolded protein complexes towards normal and tumor cells, immune response to them in the biological fluids of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease patients as well as the applications of amyloids as novel nanomaterials in nanobiotechnology.