Retraction: Long Noncoding RNA RGMB-AS1 Indicates a Poor Prognosis and Modulates Cell Proliferation, Migration and Invasion in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Following the publication of this article [1], concerns were raised regarding results presented in Figs 4 and 5, including similarity between results presented in these figures and figures presented previous and subsequent publications. Specifically,

• The A549 NC panel of Fig 4C [1] appears similar to the KYSE30 Blank panel of [2] when flipped horizontally.

• The following mice appear similar, despite being used to represent experiments using different cell lines and/or different experimental conditions:

  • ○
    Fig 5A A549 Blank [1] and Fig 2G EC9706 Blank [3] when flipped horizontally.
  • ○
    Fig 5A A549 NC [1] and Fig 2G EC9706 NC [3] when flipped horizontally.
  • ○
    Fig 5A A549 si-IncRNA [1] and Fig 4A 5-FU G648C [4].
  • ○
    Fig5B SPC-A-1 Blank [1] and Fig4B A549 Blank [5] when flipped horizontally.
  • ○
    Fig 5B SPC-A-1 Si-IncRNA [1] and Fig 5A A549 miR-203 [6].

• The SPC-A-1 cell line used in this study is a contaminated cell line; originally thought to be a lung adenocarcinoma cell line, but since shown to be a HeLa derivative [7].

The corresponding author stated that the observed similarities are the result of mismanagement of archived pictures of xenograft experiments but stands by the reliability and veracity of the original results. The corresponding author indicated that the original data underlying the published results are no longer available, and provided replacement images for Figs 4C, 5A, and 5B. However, in the absence of the original data underlying the results presented in this study, the replacement figures are not sufficient to resolve the abovementioned concerns.

In light of the above issues pertaining to the reliability of the reported results, the PLOS ONE Editors retract this article.

GZhao agreed with the retraction and apologised for the issues with the published article. PL, GZhang, JL, RY, SC, SW, FZ, YB, HZ, YW, SD, XC, and QS either did not respond directly or could not be reached.