Mol Med Rep 12: [Related article:] 8275–8281, 2015; DOI:
10.3892/mmr.2015.4447
Following the publication of the above paper, it was
drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that a pair
of the flow cytometic (FCM) plots featured in Figs. 1B and 4B
contained areas of similarity, suggesting that these data were
derived, at least in part, from the same original source. The
Editorial Office also conducted an independent investigation of the
data in this paper, which revealed that Transwell assay data were
duplicated between Figs. 1C and 4C. Moreover, a number of the FCM
plots comparing between Figs. 1B and 4B contained more extensive
overlapping areas, and these FCM data had also appeared in three
other papers written by different authors at different research
institutes that were submitted at around the same time as this
submssion to Molecular Medicine Reports, one of which has
subsequently been retracted.
In view of the fact that the abovementioned data
were published in other journals as well as Molecular Medicine
Reports, and in view of an overall lack of confidence in the
presented data, the Editor has decided that this paper should be
retracted from the Journal. 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.
