Mol Med Rep 19: 984–993, 2019; DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2018.9757
Following the publication of the above paper, it was drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that, regarding the cell morphological images shown in Fig. 3A on p. 988, the second panel on the right (showing the Cela −, TRAIL +, CQ + experiment) was strikingly similar in appearance to a data panel that had been included in a paper published by the same research group 3 years earlier in the journal Oncotarget, although these data were presented in that article in a different scientific context. Moreover, upon assessing the data in this paper independently in the Editorial Office, there were concerns raised about the possible anomalous appearance of the β-actin blots shown in Fig. 3A, and the Ac-cas3 blot shown in Fig. 3E.
In view of the re-use of the contentious data in the above paper in a different scientific context, and due to the potentially anomalous appearance of some of the western blot data in this paper, the Editor of Molecular Medicine Reports has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal on account of a lack of confidence in the presented data. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused.