Figure swap corrected in mouse prion study on SOD2 expression
PLOS ONE has issued a correction to a mouse study examining whether reduced SOD2 expression changes prion disease. The correction is narrow but important: in Fig 5, the 22L SOD2+/- and 22L WT rows were switched. A corrected version of the figure now accompanies the notice, along with the original image data supporting Figs 5 and 6.
The corrected figure does not alter the central message of the paper. Reduced SOD2 expression does not influence prion disease course or pathology in mice, and the revised figure is consistent with that conclusion.
Histology in the cortex remained similar across genotypes
Fig 5 focused on representative histological staining in the cerebral cortex. The panels compared PrP deposition, astrogliosis, and spongiform change in SOD2+/- mice infected with the 22L and ME7 strains against wild-type mice and NBH controls. The correction clarifies the placement of the 22L SOD2+/- and 22L WT rows, restoring the intended organization of the image set.
The study’s visual readout still points in the same direction. Across the corrected figure, reduced SOD2 expression did not produce an obvious shift in the pathological pattern of prion disease. PrP accumulation, astroglial activation, and spongiform change remained in the range expected for the infected groups, with no overt divergence attributable to SOD2 reduction.
The pathology stayed on script despite the genetic change.
Why the correction matters for interpreting the data
Corrections involving figure placement can look minor, but they carry real weight in experimental neuropathology, where image panels often anchor the interpretation of the full dataset. In a study built around histological comparison, an incorrect row order can confuse which genotype belongs to which stain, strain, or control condition. Here, the corrected layout restores clarity to the 22L comparisons and preserves the integrity of the visual evidence.
The accompanying notice also points readers to the original image data underlying Figs 5 and 6, now available in supplemental files. That extra documentation matters because image-based neuroscience depends on transparent figure handling as much as on the final qualitative readout. When the corrected panel is viewed alongside the original data, the intended conclusion remains intact: lowering SOD2 expression did not visibly reshape the disease phenotype in this mouse model.
Oxidative stress biology did not translate into a visible pathology shift
SOD2 encodes a mitochondrial superoxide dismutase, so the biological rationale for the experiment is straightforward. If mitochondrial oxidative stress contributes meaningfully to prion disease pathology, then reducing SOD2 might have been expected to amplify tissue injury or alter the characteristic histologic features. In this experiment, that expectation did not materialize.
Instead, the cerebral cortex showed no overt pathology shift linked to SOD2 reduction. The study therefore leaves a useful negative result in place: at least in these mice and in these prion strain settings, the expected mitochondrial antioxidant bottleneck did not translate into detectable changes in disease course or histology. Negative findings in mechanistic neuropathology can be just as informative as positive ones, especially when they narrow the list of pathways likely to drive a phenotype.
For investigators studying prion disorders, the implication is restrained but clear. A partial reduction in SOD2 was not enough to visibly change the histologic burden of disease in this model, even under challenge with 22L and ME7 infection. The result does not eliminate a role for oxidative biology in prion disease, but it does argue against a simple, dominant effect of SOD2 haploinsufficiency on the measured tissue outcomes.
The corrected record supports the original conclusion
The correction cites the original article by Foliaki ST, Race B, Williams K, Baune C, Groveman BR, and Haigh CL, published in PLOS One in 2021, which concluded that reduced SOD2 expression does not influence prion disease course or pathology in mice. The correction itself was published on October 19, 2026, and it is tied specifically to the figure error, not to a change in the study’s scientific conclusion.
The practical effect is straightforward: readers reviewing the paper should now rely on the corrected Fig 5 when interpreting the 22L comparison. The revised image set aligns with the reported conclusion and with the supporting image data. No new experimental outcome is introduced, and no disease phenotype is reversed by the correction.
In a field where small changes in staining patterns can influence mechanistic interpretation, the cleanup is meaningful. The article now presents the cortex images in the correct order, and the central message remains unchanged: SOD2 reduction did not overtly influence prion pathology in this mouse study.