Abstract
Amyloid fibrils are associated with a large number of diseases, such as Alzheimer‘s dementia and others. Evidence links Alzheimer‘s dementia with vascular diseases and only few data connect amyloids and atherosclerosis and aging via deposits in the aortic intima. Recent results demonstrate that some elastin polypeptide sequences are also able to produce amyloid fibers. This finding could have useful implications in the study of amyloids in cardiovascular tissue whose main constituent is elastin. In this review, we have also outlined the main characterizing features regarding the structure of amyloid fibrils. Finally, we describe, as a future perspective, the design of proper inhibitors of amyloid deposition in vascular walls as potential therapeutic drugs.
Financial disclosure
This work was supported by a European Community Project ‘ELAST – AGE‘ n. 018960.