We wish to retract the article titled “Reprogrammed FoxP3+ T Regulatory Cells Become IL-17+ Antigen-Specific Autoimmune Effectors In Vitro and In Vivo,” by Suresh Radhakrishnan, Rosalyn Cabrera, Erin L. Schenk, Pilar Nava-Parada, Michael P. Bell, Virginia P. Van Keulen, Ronald J. Marler, Sara J. Felts, and Larry R. Pease, The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181: 3137–3147.
In the course of investigating suspicious patterns of experimental results in the laboratory, a systematic and in-depth study of key findings in this article was carried out using blinded protocols. In these repeat studies, no evidence was found to support our original conclusions that B7-DC XAb modulates dendritic cell functions. We do not believe our failure to reproduce our earlier findings is the result of a technical problem. A member of the B7-DC XAb investigative team, Dr. Suresh Radhakrishnan, who was involved in or had access to all the work on this subject, was found in a formal investigation to have engaged in scientific misconduct in unpublished experiments involving the B7-DC XAb reagent. This finding of misconduct and our inability to reproduce key findings using blinded protocols has undermined our confidence in our published reports. We seek, therefore, to retract this body of work.
Rosalyn Cabrera
University of Puerto Rico
Rio Piedras Campus
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Erin L. Schenk
Pilar Nava-Parada
Michael P. Bell
Virginia P. Van Keulen
Ronald J. Marler
Sara J. Felts
Larry R. Pease
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN