[Retracted] Downmodulation of dimethyl transferase activity enhances tumor necrosis factor‑related apoptosis‑inducing ligand‑ induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells

Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that, regarding the western blot data, this paper appeared to contain a number of data duplications/erroneously assembled figures. First, one of the p‑Erk1/2 bands in Fig. 2B (the leftmost lane) appeared to match one of the protein bands shown for Erk1/2 experiments (the rightmost lane). Secondly, Bcl‑Xa bands in Fig. 2A were apparently matching with cIAP‑1 bands in Fig. 5B (albeit with horizontal flipping and vertical resizing of the data). Thirdly, the cIAP‑1 protein bands in Fig. 5B also appeared to have been re‑used in a subsequent paper published by the same research group in the journal Endocrine‑Related Cancer. Upon performing an independent analysis of the data in this paper, a pair of further data duplications were identified; namely, phospho‑p53 bands in Fig. 2A were apparently matching with Dr4 bands in Fig. 5B, and there also appeared to be an overlap of β‑actin bands comparing Fig. 2B with Fig. 5B (where the reported experimental conditions were different). Given the apparent duplications of data within this paper itself and the re‑use of data in a subsequently published paper, the Editor of International Journal of Oncology has decided that it should be retracted from the Journal on account of a lack of confidence in the presented data. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Oncology 33: 381‑388, 2008; DOI: 10.3892/ijo_00000019]