Mol Med Rep 6: 996–1000, 2012; DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2012.1021

Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editors’ attention by a concerned reader that, in comparing the agarose gels featured in Figs. 1 and 2 on p. 998, two pairs of lanes for the TNF-α data featured for the ‘on day 14/on day 35’ and ‘on day 21/on day 56’ experiments were strikingly similar, although the lanes were featured in reverse orientations relative to each other. Furthermore, MMP-2 protein bands featured in Fig. 2 in the ‘E’ and ‘C’ lanes of the ‘on day 56’ experiments were also strikingly similar in appearance. Finally, concerning the immunofluorescence experiments shown in Figs. 3 and 4, one pair of data panels in each of the figures was found to be overlapping, and moreover, some of the same data panels also appeared in a figure in another paper written by the same research group that was published in the journal Gastroenterology Research and Practice at around the same time.

In view of the apparent anomalies associated with the data in Figs. 1 and 2, and the re-use of certain of the data in Figs. 3 and 4, the Editor of Molecular Medicine Reports has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal on the grounds 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.