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Retraction Note: A specific amyloid-beta protein assembly in the brain impairs memory
Lesné S, Koh MT, Kotilinek L, Kayed R, Glabe CG, Yang A, Gallagher M, Ashe KH. Nature, 2024-06-24
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Eighteen years after it was published, Nature formally retracted the landmark 2006 paper that had proposed a specific amyloid protein (Aβ*56) as a cause of memory loss in mice, citing evidence of image manipulation, including splicing, duplication, and use of an image-editing 'eraser' tool. All of the original authors agreed to the retraction except Sylvain Lesné himself. It is one of the most highly cited papers ever retracted in any field.
Key findings
- Original paper published in Nature, March 16, 2006 (vol. 440, pages 352-357)
- Retracted June 24, 2024, roughly two years after the Science investigation first raised concerns
- Retraction notice cited 'signs of excessive manipulation, including splicing, duplication and the use of an eraser tool'
- All co-authors except Sylvain Lesné agreed to the retraction
- Senior author Karen Ashe subsequently attempted to redo the underlying experiments without Lesné, publishing new work in 2024 while continuing to defend the paper's broader conclusions
Why it matters
This retraction removes a widely cited claim that a specific amyloid protein assembly called Aβ*56 causes memory loss in mice, because the paper's images were found to be manipulated. It does not by itself disprove the amyloid hypothesis, but it means this particular piece of supporting evidence can no longer be trusted.
Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
Limitations
The retraction addresses image integrity in this specific paper; it is not itself an empirical study and does not by itself establish whether the Aβ*56 oligomer concept is entirely wrong, only that the original supporting images were compromised. Investigations into Lesné's other papers reportedly continued beyond this retraction, and he left the University of Minnesota in 2025.
How this study scored 16/100
Retracted — do not rely on it. It scored 17 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people, randomised / blinded and indexed in PubMed because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 11 of the 66 points we could judge it on, which is 17 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Nature) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 0 / 10 | Retracted — do not rely on it. The title marks it as retracted, or it is the retraction notice itself. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 0 / 2 | No PubMed ID and no DOI — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 11 / 66 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 11 of the 66 points we could judge it on is 17 out of 100. |
| Total | 17 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. This record has no DOI, so the citation leaves it out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Lesné, S., Koh, M. T., Kotilinek, L., Kayed, R., Glabe, C. G., Yang, A., et al. (2024). Retraction Note: A specific amyloid-beta protein assembly in the brain impairs memory. Nature.
Vancouver
Lesné S, Koh MT, Kotilinek L, Kayed R, Glabe CG, Yang A, et al. Retraction Note: A specific amyloid-beta protein assembly in the brain impairs memory. Nature. 2024.
BibTeX
@article{lesne2024-6acae23c,
author = {Lesné, S. and Koh, M. T. and Kotilinek, L. and Kayed, R. and Glabe, C. G. and Yang, A. and Gallagher, M. and Ashe, K. H.},
title = {{Retraction Note: A specific amyloid-beta protein assembly in the brain impairs memory}},
journal = {Nature},
year = {2024}
}