Oncol Lett 18: [Related article:] 6501–6508, 2019; DOI:
10.3892/ol.2019.11029
Following the publication of the above paper, it was
drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that,
regarding the cell migration and invasion assay data shown in Fig.
2C on p. 6504, the Invasion, SW480/NC and Migration, SW480/NC
panels showed an overlapping section of data, such that these data
panels, which were intended to show the results of differently
performed experiments had been derived from the same original
source. In addition, the Invasion, SW480/NC data panel was also
found to contain an overlapping section with the Invasion,
SW480/mir-331-3p inhibitor+NRP2 siRNA data panel in Fig. 5C. A
concern was also raised that the miRNA results were erroneously
stated to have been normalized to U6 snRNA levels according to the
qPCR analysis, whereas the sequences reported for the primers were
not for U6, but for a messenger RNA, LSM5. Moreover, upon
performing an independent analysis of the data in this paper in the
Editorial Office, it also came to light that, regarding the western
blot experiments featured in Figs. 3 and 4 on p. 6505, a unique
GAPDH protein band featured in Fig. 3A was strikingly similar to a
GAPDH protein band featured in Fig. 2C, whereas the other GAPDH
protein band in Fig. 3A appeared to be strikingly similar to the
NRP2 protein band located in the ‘NC’ lane of the gel in Fig.
4D.
Given the large number of potentially anomalous
issues identified with the abovementioned figures in this paper,
the Editor of Oncology Letters 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.
