About this episode

Professor Louise Serpell discusses the importance of precise terminology in Alzheimer's research, particularly regarding the term 'amyloid'.

Professor Louise Serpell narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. Amyloid is one of the most used words in Alzheimer's research, and Louise thinks we have got into the habit of using it too loosely. Amyloid is not a single thing. It is a structure, a way that many different proteins fold and assemble into fibrils, and the officially recognised list of amyloid precursor proteins now runs to 42 and keeps growing. Tau forms amyloid. Insulin can. So can the antibodies that deposit in the heart and skin. Bacteria even build functional amyloid to stick themselves to surfaces. So when researchers say "amyloid" but mean the amyloid-beta protein and the plaques found in Alzheimer's brains, Louise argues we are blurring something that ought to stay sharp. In this blog she makes the case for precision, drawing on the amyloid nomenclature committee's own definitions and a memorable bit of advice she picked up as a PhD student. Her plea is simple: say amyloid-beta when that is what you mean, because the alternative risks confusing the public, funders, drug developers, and eventually ourselves…

People in this episode

Guest: Professor Louise Serpell

Topics covered

• Alzheimer's research
• protein misfolding
• amyloid structures
• nomenclature
• scientific precision

Keywords

• amyloid
• amyloid-beta
• Alzheimer's
• protein folding
• tau
• nomenclature
• research precision

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dementia Researcher

Books & works: Alzheimer's, amyloid-beta, Tau, insulin, functional amyloid

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