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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Rapid Generation of Amyloid from Native Proteins In vitro
Published on: December 5, 2013
Serum amyloid A and protein AA: molecular mechanisms of a transmissible amyloidosis
Gunilla T Westermark1, Per Westermark
1Division of Cell Biology, Diabetes Research Centre, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. Per.Westermark@genpat.uu.se
Abstract:
Systemic AA-amyloidosis is a complication of chronic inflammatory diseases and the fibril protein AA derives from the acute phase reactant serum AA. AA-amyloidosis can be induced in mice by an inflammatory challenge. The lag phase before amyloid develops can be dramatically shortened by administration of a small amount of amyloid fibrils. Systemic AA-amyloidosis is transmissible in mice and may be so in humans. Since transmission can cross species barriers it is possible that AA-amyloidosis can be induced by amyloid in food, e.g. foie gras. In mice, development of AA-amyloidosis can also be accelerated by other components with amyloid-like properties. A new possible risk factor may appear with synthetically made fibrils from short peptides, constructed for tissue repair.
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