Correction: Enhanced ultrasound imaging and anti-tumor in vivo properties of Span–polyethylene glycol with folic acid–carbon nanotube–paclitaxel multifunctional microbubbles

Abstract

Correction for “Enhanced ultrasound imaging and anti-tumor in vivo properties of Span–polyethylene glycol with folic acid–carbon nanotube–paclitaxel multifunctional microbubbles” by Jie Zhang et al., RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 35345–35355, https://www.doi.org/10.1039/C9RA06437K.

The authors would like to bring attention to duplicated images in Fig. 9a in RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 35345–35355 (https://www.doi.org/10.1039/C9RA06437K) and Fig. 5a in ACS Omega, 2019, 4(3), 4691–4696 (https://www.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b03403).

Fig. 1. Ultrasound images of the different groups in vitro for: (a) normal saline,¹ (b) span–PEG microbubbles, (c) span–PEG with CNT microbubbles, (d) span–PEG with FA–CNT–PTX microbubbles.

Both figures represent blank control groups in saline solution. The authors regret that a reference to the ACS Omega paper was not included in the RSC Advances paper. This Correction serves to add a reference to the caption of Fig. 9a of RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 35345–35355, as displayed herein.

In the ACS Omega paper, the authors prepared polylactic acid (PLA) composite microbubbles (FA/DOX/GO/DOX/PLA) using graphene oxide (GO) as the carrier to load folic acid (FA) and doxorubicin (DOX).

In the RSC Advances paper, the authors used Span and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as membrane materials, and Span–PEG composited FA–CNT–PTX microbubbles were obtained through the addition of folate–carbon nanotube–paclitaxel (FA–CNT–PTX) into the reaction system.

The experimental conditions were the same and the same instrument was used to investigate the in vitro ultrasonic imaging effects of the two composite microbubbles at the same time. Fig. 9a in RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 35345–35355 (https://www.doi.org/10.1039/C9RA06437K) and Fig. 5a in ACS Omega, 2019, 4(3), 4691–4696 (https://www.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b03403) both represent saline groups for the in vitro ultrasound imaging simulation experiment. Therefore, one image was selected as the blank control.

An independent expert has considered the authors’ explanation and has concluded that it is consistent with the discussions and conclusions presented, though they noted that the authors should have recorded separate control images for each experiment.

The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.