Curli Extracellular Matrix - The Functional Fold: Amyloid Structures in Nature - page 126

Indeed, the value of amyloids as an extracellular component is
significant in view of a recent finding showing that amyloids are
widely distributed among natural biofilm, including bacteria from
several phyla, such as Proteobacteria , Bacteriodetes , Firmicutes ,

44
The discovery of curli amyloid may have important implications.
First, curli may serve as an exceptional model for the study of amyloid
formation and disease-associated amyloidogenesis, including the
development of new strategies for the treatment of amyloid diseases.
Second, activation of enzymatic processes in mammalian blood and
ECM holds a promise for the development of new therapeutic agents.
Finally, from biotechnological point of view, curli are a fascinating
biomaterial. Beyond the mechanical and functional qualities, curli
assembly is directed, highly regulated, yet efficient and may be easily
produced on a large scale. Such characteristics are much desired for
prospective nanobiotechnological applications.

Chloroflexi , and Actinobacteria .

Acknowledgement

I thank Dr. Jermont Chen, Dr. Shona C. Patel, and Dr. Sharon Gilead for
valuable comments on the early drafts.

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