The Journal Editors and Sage Publications hereby issue an expression of concern for the following article:
Figueiro-Silva J, Antequera D, Pascual C, et al. The Melatonin Analog IQM316 May Induce Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Preserve Recognition Memories in Mice. Cell Transplant. 2018;27(3):423-437. doi:10.1177/0963689717721217
The Journal Editors and Sage were alerted to a discussion surrounding the article on Pubpeer (PubPeer - The Melatonin Analog IQM316 May Induce Adult Hippocampal Neu).
Concerns were raised about the following:
1. In Figure 4D, the bands VDAC1 and GAPDH appear highly similar.
2. Figure 1 reports “7 animals per group,” whereas elsewhere in the article the number of animals is reported as “8 animals per group.”
The authors were contacted for comment, and they acknowledged that the bands are very similar and noted that this similarity may arise from the proteins having comparable molecular weights and from the use of a stripping and reprobing procedure on the same membrane. The authors were unable to provide the uncropped raw images underlying these figure panels but shared the original individual gels for each blot.
They also stated that the study initially included eight animals per group. Due to technical issues affecting tissue quality during immunofluorescence processing, the sample size for immunohistochemical analyses was reduced to seven animals per group, while all eight animals were retained for biochemical analyses.
As questions regarding the reliability of Figure 4D remain unresolved, this Expression of Concern will remain permanently in place to inform readers.