MEDICAL SCIENCES Retraction for “Activation of the NF-κB pathway by adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and its implications in immune response and gene therapy,” by Giridhara R. Jayandharan, George Aslanidi, Ashley T. Martino, Stephan C. Jahn, George Q. Perrin, Roland W. Herzog, and Arun Srivastava, which was first published February 14, 2011; 10.1073/pnas.1012753108 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108:3743–3748).
The authors wish to note the following: “The Office of Research at the University of Florida conducted a formal investigation into concerns of duplication of panels in Figs. 3A and 6A. The Committee found that although the images in Fig. 6A contained an inadvertent duplication, the results of this figure were subsequently verified independently. However, the Committee also found that the data presented in Fig. 3A were falsified. Unfortunately, no primary data files, experimental details, or records for the flow cytometry experiments in Fig. 3A could be produced. While the precise role of the NF-κB pathway in primary human dendritic cells will require independent confirmation, none of the major conclusions reached in the paper is affected. However, based on the concerns regarding falsification of the data in Fig. 3A, we wish to retract our article. We sincerely apologize to our colleagues and the scientific community for the inconvenience this may cause.”