What is extracellular aggregates?
The word extracellular means “outside the cell”. Extracellular aggregates, or “amyloids,” refer to damaged proteins that bind up the outside of our cells, interfering with their normal function. The most well-known extracellular aggregate is beta-amyloid, which is a key contributor to Alzheimer’s disease. How does the damage set in? Proteins are routinely damaged in the rough-and-tumble of metabolism. Normally such proteins are simply rendered dysfunctional and are broken down for recycling. But some proteins suffer damage that warps their shape and makes them ‘sticky.’ Such proteins then tend to link up with one another, forming large chains that accumulate outside of our cells, preventing them from functioning properly. Resultant Disease Extracellular aggregates form on a wide range of different kinds of cell, and cause diseases related to the inability of those cells to carry out their work. Amyloids in the brain are a core driver of Alzheimer’s disease; amyloids in the heart interf
