Professor Louise Serpell - What's in a name? Amyloid, Amyloid-beta, Beta Amyloid, Amy-Lloyd

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.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-whats-in-a-name-amyloid-amyloid-beta-beta-amyloid-amy-lloyd/

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Professor Louise Serpell is an Emerita Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses on how proteins misfold and form amyloid structures linked to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, using approaches from structural biology and molecular biophysics. Louise completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford and later established her own research group in the UK. Alongside her research career, she has been active in mentoring, public engagement, and supporting early career researchers. Find Louise on LinkedIn

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This podcast is brought to you from University College London in association with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

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