Fu G, Wang H, Cai Y, Zhao H, Fu W. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2018;12:1609–1619.
The Editor and Publisher of Drug Design, Development and Therapy wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised regarding the alleged duplication of western blot bands in Figure 3D. The authors explained that an error had been made by the journal which led to the unintended duplication of the Caspase-1 and IL-1β bands in Figure 3D. The journal accepts an error was made, however further investigation found the authors were unable to provide adequate original western blot data and could no longer verify the validity of the reporting findings. The decision was made to retract the article and the authors do not agree with this.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.