About Amyloidosis:

• It is a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein, called amyloid, builds up in one’s organs, affecting their shape and functioning.
• Amyloid deposits can build up in the heart, brain, kidneys, spleen, and other parts of the body, leading to life-threatening conditions like organ failure.
• Some varieties of amyloidosis occur in association with other diseases.
• These types may improve with treatment of the underlying disease. Some varieties of amyloidosis may lead to life-threatening organ failure.
• The general signs or symptoms would include: Severe fatigue; Loss of weight; swelling in the belly, legs, ankles or feet; Numbness, pain, or tingling in hands or feet, and changes in skin colour.
• Different amyloidosis that are prevalent
  • Light-chain (AL) amyloidosis: People with conditions such as multiple myeloma or a bone marrow illness are more likely to have AL amyloidosis.
  • AA amyloidosis: Previously known as secondary amyloidosis, this condition is the result of another chronic infectious or inflammatory disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, or ulcerative colitis. 

What is Lysozyme?

• It is a protein present in mucosal secretions and a principal component of airway fluid.

Key points about the research

• They have assembled lysozyme molecules as a 2D monolayer at the interface of pure aqueous subphase.
• Researchers used the 2D protein monolayer to understand the behaviour of lysozyme molecules at air-water as well as at air-solid interface with the help of a technique called the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique.
• The physical properties of lysozyme molecules at the air-water interface were investigated under the variation of surface pressure and subphase pH conditions in the study.
• The compressible behaviour of lysozyme monolayers was correlated to the stripe-like domains formed with an increase in surface pressure.
• Lysozyme molecules at the air-water interface and their structural or conformational changes in variable pH conditions can be considered a model system to study Amyloidosis disease, which occurs because of the misfolding and agglomeration of lysozyme molecules.