4 ms·

Here is a lengthy response from more than 20 researchers in the field [0]. In brief, the claims made in the article above are exaggerated. As someone who works

• jeremyjh 4y ago
  It’s so shocking that they don’t want their field to be discredited.
  • pcrh 4y ago
    Not really. There is plenty of criticism of the amyloid hypothesis within the field, and even specifically of the oligomer variant thereof that Schrag focused on. You can even read that criticism in the link I provided. Schrag's investigation did not (in my opinion) discover any fraud in the Lesné paper, even if the paper perhaps over-states its case. The amyloid hypothesis has several very strong strands of evidence in its favor, specifically that it is (currently) the only way to reconcile the indisputable genetic and pathological evidence for mutations in the genes APP and presenilin both producing early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid is derived from the action of presenilin on APP. Until an alternate way of reconciling this observation is found, the amyloid hypothesis will always have supporters.
• gausswho 4y ago
  Having read it, I don't recognize anything that suggests the Science article is an exaggeration. Perhaps there's something in the comments you're referring to, but if so can you be more specific?
  • pcrh 4y ago
    Scientists are often very circumspect in how they phrase things, but this particular phrasing in the main article is notable: >“This is not a real scientific problem, but it is most unfortunate for general science credibility,” Selkoe wrote to Alzforum. Edit: I should add that the "oligomers" described in the Lesne article have been found by other researchers, see [0] [0] https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Aβ*56&btnG= https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Aβ...
    • kamranjon 4y ago
      I read that it might actually be that these specific Oligomers might not be detectable in anything but genetically engineered mice - and detection in humans has not actually been proven outside papers in question, is this true?
      • pcrh 4y ago
        It's quite difficult for researchers to gain access to human brains, needless to say, so the number of studies attempting to find specific oligomeric species in human brain are limited. However (and without attempting an exhaustive search), detection of oligomeric amyloid (if perhaps not the specific species reported by Lesné are reported, e.g. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1750-3639.2009.00321.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1750-3639....
        • pessimizer 4y ago
          So you're in complete agreement with the article, then? You've said nothing that wasn't mentioned.
          • pcrh 4y ago
            High molecular weight assemblies of Abeta have been repeatedly identified by numerous researchers from human tissue and other sources. However, similar to myself, Derek Lowe didn't investigate the voluminous literature on the topic to see if the specific Aβ*56 species has been found in extracts of human tissue by others. With a little extra searching, I found this article below which does appear to replicate detection of a potential 56 kDa form of Aβ in human tissue by western blot of SDS-PAGE gels, as shown in the Lesné paper (Figure 1), though they express concern that its true concentrations may be very low and may be artefacts. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1582-4934.2011.01306.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1582-4934...
• Sniffnoy 4y ago
  In the article above? This is in response to the original article by Charles Piller, not this summary by Derek Lowe.
  • pcrh 4y ago
    Apologies! Yes, the Pillier article. Unfortunately I can't correct the original comment.