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Published on: November 16, 2015
Amyloid-like Structures in Marine Adhesive Proteins
Mariana Rodrigues Santos1,2, Bárbara Joana Henriques1,3, Romana Santos2,4
1BioISI-Instituto de Biosistemas e Ciências integrativas, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
Abstract:
The formation of amyloid-like structures is commonly linked to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. However, proteins can form amyloid-like structures in non-pathological contexts, referred to as functional amyloids. We review the current knowledge on the evolutionary and ecological significance of the presence of proteins presenting amyloid-like structures in adhesive secretions (both permanent and non-permanent) produced by several marine organisms; in addition, we analyze the molecular and structural properties that make them well suited for this task and their possible biomimetic and industrial applications.
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