What is "proteotoxicity"

n. (context pathology English) Any impairment of cell function caused by misfolding of a protein

Proteotoxicity is toxicity caused by proteins, usually of misfolded proteins. Examples of proteotoxic proteins are the prion protein, and several proteins that when mutated result in neurodegenerative disease and produce aggregates in brain tissues, such as amyloid-beta in Alzheimer's disease and huntingtin in Huntington's disease. It is hypothesized that chaperones and co-chaperones, collectively referred to as the chaperome, proteins that assist protein folding, antagonize proteotoxicity during aging and in protein misfolding-diseases to maintain proteostasis.