Hagfish Slime Threads - The Functional Fold: Amyloid Structures in Nature - page 21

a

b

c

d

e

f

Figure 2.4 Congo red staining of whole hagfish slime produced in

aquarium. 5 Images on the left are brightfield, and images on
the right are taken with crossed polarizers. Images a and b
are from slime that was handled gently, and images c-f are
from slime that was purposefully deformed, as might occur
when a hagfish or predator thrashes within it. Congo red
metachromasia and birefringence is shown in d and f. See also
Colour Insert.

These experiments demonstrate that the amyloid-like nature
of hagfish slime threads only occurs outside of the hagfish's body
and only when the slime is suitably deformed by an external force.
This represents a case of functional amyloid that operates outside
of the body of the organism that makes it.

12,13

This observation