Retraction: Hippocampal mutant APP and amyloid beta-induced cognitive decline, dendritic spine loss, defective autophagy, mitophagy and mitochondrial abnormalities in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

This is retraction of Maria Manczak, Ramesh Kandimalla, Xiangling Yin, P. Hemachandra Reddy, Hippocampal mutant APP and amyloid beta-induced cognitive decline, dendritic spine loss, defective autophagy, mitophagy and mitochondrial abnormalities in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, Human Molecular Genetics, Volume 27, Issue 8, 15 April 2018, Pages 1332–1342, https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddy042.

In March 2025, a reader contacted the journal with concerns about the wild-type data presented in Figure 1B, C, and D in this article. In September 2023, the journal published a correction to this article¹ after similar concerns were raised about this data in October 2022. In June 2025, the Editors published an expression of concern² while they investigated the additional concerns in line with COPE guidance.

The journal contacted the authors who indicated that wild-type mouse data had been reused across three articles published in the journal, and the results were not consistent for all measures in the three articles, with the Wild-type results for the Morris Water Maze Test being different in this article. Although the authors previously explained in the correction notice that mice had been replaced after approval from the animal ethics committee overseeing the work, the Editors consulted with an independent reviewer and disagreed with this selective removal of mice from the results reported in this article. The Editors no longer have confidence in the data and results presented in the article.

The journal has notified all authors of this decision prior to publication of this retraction notice, and they disagree with the decision to retract.