Cited by 556Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsDementia and Cognitive Impairment Research

ApoE influences amyloid-β (Aβ) clearance despite minimal apoE/Aβ association in physiological conditions

Open access
Verghese, Philip B., Castellano, Joseph M., Garai, Kanchan, Wang, Yinong, Jiang, Hong, Shah, Aarti, Bu, Guojun, Frieden, Carl +1 more·2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Significance: It has been proposed that differential physical interactions of apolipoprotein E (apoE) isoforms with soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) in brain fluids influence the metabolism of Aβ, providing a major mechanism to account for how APOE influences Alzheimer’s disease risk. The current study challenges this proposal and clearly shows that lipoproteins containing apoE isoforms are unlikely to play a significant role in Aβ metabolism by binding directly to Aβ in physiological fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid or interstitial fluid. Our in vitro and in vivo results suggest that apoE isoforms influence Aβ metabolism by competing for the same clearance pathways within the brain.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1220484110

Cites

81 of 81 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The loss in binding is thought to contribute to a decrease in the clearance of Aβ and thus is part of the mechanism for the increased risk of apoE ɛ4 allele carriers to develop AD.

    “The loss in binding is thought to contribute to a decrease in the clearance of Aβ and thus is part of the mechanism for the increased risk of apoE ɛ4 allele carriers to develop AD [13–15].”

    From Discovery of a Missense Mutation (Q222K) of the <i>APOE</i> Gene from the Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle Study (2023) · cites this paper as [15]

    The paper supports the background link between apoE4, impaired Aβ clearance, and increased AD risk. But its Discussion says direct apoE/Aβ binding is unlikely to explain clearance differences and proposes receptor- or transporter-mediated effects instead. That contradicts the claimed mechanism in which a loss of binding reduces clearance. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The bulk of soluble Aβ is cleared through its direct interaction with the LDL receptor family expressed by brain capillary endothelium, neurons, and astrocytes.

    “Several studies have shown that the bulk of soluble Aβ is cleared through its direct interaction with the LDL receptor family expressed by brain capillary endothelium [37], neurons [24,38], and astrocytes [39,40], therefore pharmacological disruption of the apoE/Aβ binding is unlikely to impair this process.”

    From Blocking the apoE/Aβ interaction ameliorates Aβ-related pathology in APOE ε2 and ε4 targeted replacement Alzheimer model mice (2014) · cites this paper as [40]

    The Discussion (page unavailable in our copy) says astrocytes are a major Aβ-clearance cell type and suggests that soluble Aβ can bind directly to receptors such as LDLR for clearance without apoE. It does not establish that the bulk of soluble Aβ is cleared by direct receptor binding; it also describes multiple clearance pathways and says LRP1 can act directly or indirectly. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • APOE is known to affect many functional aspects of astrocytes, including uptake of glutamate and uptake and degradation of Aβ, as shown in mouse models.

    “APOE is known to affect many functional aspects of astrocytes, including, but not limited to, homeostatic support such as uptake of glutamate as well as uptake and degradation of Aβ, as shown in mouse models (Verghese et al., 2013).”

    From APOE2, E3, and E4 differentially modulate cellular homeostasis, cholesterol metabolism, and inflammatory response in isogenic iPSC-derived astrocytes (2022) · cites this paper as Verghese et al., 2013

    The Significance section (page not provided) states that apoE isoforms affect Aβ uptake and subsequent degradation in astrocytes, and reports Aβ-clearance findings in a mouse model. The cited paper does not address astrocytic glutamate uptake, so it supports only the Aβ portion of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • apoE can indirectly modulate Aβ clearance through competing with Aβ for the same receptors.

    “It has been also proposed that apoE can indirectly modulate Aβ clearance through competing with Aβ for the same receptors [40].”
  • Position 222 is at a flexible loop region of apoE, corresponding to the shoulder of a domain (residues 244-272) hypothesized to bind Aβ and involved in lipid binding.

    “Structurally, position 222 is at a flexible loop region of apoE, corresponding to the shoulder of a domain (residues 244–272) hypothesized to bind Aβ [15] and involved in lipid binding [33].”

    From Discovery of a Missense Mutation (Q222K) of the <i>APOE</i> Gene from the Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle Study (2023) · cites this paper as [15]

    The cited paper’s Significance and Discussion sections address apoE–Aβ binding generally, but do not identify residues 244–272 as a hypothesized Aβ-binding domain. Searches for residues 244–272, position 222, and a C-terminal binding site found no passage addressing that structural claim. The separate lipid-binding statement is attached to citation [33], not this source. (LLM, conf=0.74)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Fagan AM, et al. (2000) Differences in the Abeta40/Abeta42 ratio associated with cerebrospinal fluid lipoproteins as a function of apolipoprotein E genotype. Ann Neurol 48(2):201-210.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Verghese, P. B., Castellano, J. M., Garai, K., Wang, Y., Jiang, H., Shah, A., Bu, G., Frieden, C., & Holtzman, D. M.
Affiliations
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
  • Hope Center for Neurological Disorders (US)
  • Mayo Clinic in Florida (US)
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2013-04-25
Volume
110
Issue
19
Pages
E1807-16
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2161925307
Cited by
556
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 12
FWCI
31.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • American Health Assistance Foundation
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • National Institutes of Health (AG13956, AG027924, AG 03991, NS074969)
  • Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis
  • National Institute on Aging (P01AG030128, AG03991, R01AG027924, R01AG013956, AG027924, F31AG034004, AG056810, AG034004, AG026276, P50AG005681, P01AG003991, RF1AG046205, R37AG013956, AG13956, R01AG035355, P01AG026276)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS074969, P01NS074969)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
Keywords
apolipoprotein E, amyloid-beta clearance, Alzheimer's disease risk, APOE isoforms, APOE3, APOE ε4, soluble amyloid-beta, astrocytes, LRP1, amyloid-beta uptake, cerebrospinal fluid, brain interstitial fluid, receptor competition
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Apolipoproteins E, Brain, Cell Line, Cholesterol, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Protein Binding, Time Factors, Amyloid beta-Peptides, Mice, Knockout, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Protein Isoforms, Mice

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review