Cao MD, Song YC, Yang ZM, Wang DW, Lin YM, Lu HD. Onco Targets Ther. 2020;13:8095-8107.
We, the Editors and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy, have retracted the following article.
Concerns were raised about the integrity of the data in the article after it was found images from Figure 6 had been duplicated with those from other unrelated articles. Specifically,
The image for Figure 6D, MG63, WT, has been duplicated with the images for Figure 3A, SW620, miR-1236-3p mimics and Figure 2b, MDA-MB-231, Con, from Zhao Y, Zhou H, Shen J, et al. MiR1236-3p Inhibits the Proliferation, Invasion, and Migration of Colon Cancer Cells and Hinders Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition by Targeting DCLK3. Front Oncol. 2021;11:688882. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.688882 and Wang S, Zhang Y, Ren T, et al. A novel 4-aminoquinazoline derivative, DHW-208, suppresses the growth of human breast cancer cells by targeting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Cell Death Dis. 2020;11:491. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-020-2690-y, respectively.
The image for Figure 6D, MG63, shTLR7, has been duplicated with the image for Figure 3A, SW620, Mimics control, from Zhao Y, et al. Front Oncol. 2021;11:688882.
The image for Figure 6E, MG63, WT, has been duplicated with the image for Figure 2b, MDA-MB-231, 400 and Figure 6E, Si-SLC26A4-AS1, from Wang S, et al, Cell Death Dis. 2020;11:491 and Li Z, Lin W, Zheng J, et al. Identification of immune-related lncRNAs to improve the prognosis prediction for patients with papillary thyroid cancer. Biosci Rep. 2021;41(2): BSR20204086. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20204086, respectively.
The image for Figure 6E, MG63, shTLR7, has been duplicated with the images for Figure 3B, SW620, miR-1236-3p mimics; Figure 2b, MDA-MB-231, 200; Figure 6E, NC; Figure 10H, scCD200R1 and Figure 2E, sh-KIF4A, from Zhao Y, et al. Front Oncol. 2021;11:688882; Wang S, et al. Cell Death Dis. 2020;11:491; Li Z, et al. Biosci Rep. 2021;26:41(2):BSR20204086; Ling B, Ye G, Zhao Q, Jiang Y, Liang L, Tang Q. Identification of an Immunologic Signature of Lung Adenocarcinomas Based on Genome-Wide Immune Expression Profiles. Front Mol Biosci. 2021;7:603701: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2020.603701 and Feng S, Luo S, Ji C, et al. miR-29c-3p regulates proliferation and migration in ovarian cancer by targeting KIF4A. World J Surg Onc. 2020;18:315. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12957-020-02088-z, respectively.
When approached for an explanation, the authors were cooperative and provided some data for their study. However, the author’s explanation and the provided data did not satisfactorily explain how the duplication of these images occurred and was unable to alleviate the journal’s concerns regarding the validity of the findings. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article and the authors were notified of this.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and COPE guidelines.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.