Correction: In Vivo Tumorigenesis Was Observed after Injection of In Vitro Expanded Neural Crest Stem Cells Isolated from Adult Bone Marrow

Following the publication of this article [1] concerns were raised regarding similarities between results presented in Fig 1 and results presented in previous and subsequent articles [2 retracted in 6, 3–5] by the same research group. Specifically, the Nestin panel in Fig 1C has also been used to represent Nestin results in Fig 2D of [2 retracted in 6] and Fig 1C of [3], the P75NRT panel in Fig 1D has also been used to represent the P75^NRT results in Fig 2D of [2 retracted in 6], and the SOX10 panel in Fig 1E has also been used to represent the SOX10 results in Fig 1D of [3], Fig 2C of [4], and Fig 1F of [5].

Fig 1. Phenotypic characterization of neural-crest derived cells isolated from adult bone marrow.

Neural crest stem cells were isolated from double transgenic Wnt1/Cre-R26R/LacZ mice and cultured under clonal conditions. A–B. Neural crest derived clones were morphologically similar to classical BMSC. As clones have been isolated from double transgenic mice Wnt1-CRE/R26R-LacZ, neural crest-derived cells are expressing beta-galactosidase, visualized after an X-gal staining (A). C–L. Immunological characterization revealed that neural crest derived cells were nestin (C), P75NTR (D), Sox10 (E), CD9 (F), MMP12 (G), CDH13 (H), CD82 (I) positives, but CD24 (J), CD38 (K) and MMP13 (L) negatives. M–N. A percentage of neural crest stem cells were able to differentiate into beta-III-tubulin-positive cells when co-cultivated with GFP-positive cerebellar granule neurons (M), however, Asclepios showed a higher percentage of positive cells as 50.25%±1.70% of cells were beta-III-tubulin-positive, when around 15% of cells were observed with the other clones (N) (mean ± SEM, n  =  3, p<0.001, ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc test). Nuclei were counterstained with Dapi (blue) on panels C to N. Scale bars  =  30 µm.

The authors have clarified that the study described in this article [1] is a follow up on their research previously published in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, and that the Fig 1C, 1D and 1E panels in this article [1] represent the same experimental conditions described in their previous articles [2 retracted in 6, 4] which are not offered under a CC-BY license.

The Board of Ethics and Scientific Integrity of University of Liège investigated the overlap between the aforementioned panels and recommended the article be corrected. In addition, a member of PLOS ONE’s Editorial Board advised that the updated figures support the results and conclusions reported in the original article. As the original images presented in Fig 1C, 1D and 1E are not licensed for reproduction and distribution under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (or Public Domain License for US gov), this article was republished on September 28, 2021 to remove this content and replace it with alternative relevant immunological characterization images. Please download this article again to view the correct version.

Supporting information

S1 File. Original images underlying Fig 1A–1M.

(ZIP)

S2 File. Raw data underlying Fig 1N.

(PZF)