From Neurodegenerative Drivers to Engineered Biomaterials: The Dual Nature of Protein Aggregation

Protein aggregation exhibits a dual role in biology, especially in neural systems. While pathogenic aggregates of proteins such as Aβ, tau, and α-synuclein drive neurodegeneration, functional amyloids contribute to essential processes such as memory formation, hormone storage, and biofilm formation. Understanding this duality is key to developing neural disease treatments and novel biomaterials.This Research Topic welcomes original research, reviews, and perspectives on mechanisms, detection, and therapeutics of pathological aggregates, as well as engineering and applications of functional amyloids. We encourage interdisciplinary contributions that bridge basic science with clinical and technological advances.We invite contributions addressing, but not limited to:- Elucidating the kinetic pathways and structural determinants of pathological aggregation in proteins like TDP-43, α-synuclein, and Aβ.- Investigating the structure and regulation of functional amyloids in processes such as memory and biofilm formation.- Developing novel detection platforms including biosensors, AI-enhanced imaging, and seed amplification assays for aggregate detection in vitro and in vivo.- Examining proteostatic collapse, organelle dysfunction, and neuroimmune activation caused by protein aggregation in neurodegenerative environments.- Designing therapeutic strategies such as small molecule inhibitors, immunotherapies, and gene-targeting approaches to disrupt aggregation or enhance clearance.- Applying machine learning and molecular simulations to predict aggregation, design inhibitors, and analyzing complex omics or imaging data.- Exploring cross-seeding and co-aggregation between amyloidogenic proteins like Aβ and tau as mechanisms for disease comorbidity and progression.- Engineering amyloid-based biomaterials for applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and functional nanomaterials.- Probing how host factors such as aging, metabolism, and neuroinfluence modulate protein folding and aggregation dynamics. Topic editors: Jia Kong, Carlos Guillén, Yinqiang Xia Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76654/from-neurodegenerative-drivers-to-engineered-biomaterials-the-dual-nature-of-protein-aggregation