Yin Z, Ren W. Onco Targets Ther. 2019;12:759–771.
The Editor and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy are retracting the published article. Concerns had previously been raised regarding the scientific integrity of the article and subsequent inquiries found image duplication in Figure 4 and Figures S3 and S5 from the supplementary materials. Specifically,
The image for Figure 4A, SiHa, 0 hour, Control, shares overlap with the image for Figure 4A, SiHa, 0 hour, miR-217.
Western blot bands from Figure S3, SiHa, HPV16 E6, appear to have been duplicated with the image from Figure 3G, β-actin, from Li Y, Shi B, Dong F, Zhu X, Liu B, Liu Y. Effects of inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and STAT3/NF-κB- and Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress on benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by a high-fat diet. Aging (Albany NY). 2019;11(15):5570–5578. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102138.
Western blot bands from Figure S3, Ca-Ski, HPV16 E6, appear to have been duplicated with the image from Figure S3, SiHa, HPV16 E7.
Western blot bands from Figure S3, SiHa, HPV16 E7, appear to have been duplicated with the image from Figure S5, SiHa, AKT3.
The authors did not respond to our queries and did not provide any original data for their study. As the findings could not be adequately verified the Editor and Publisher made the decision to retract the article and the authors were notified of this.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and the COPE guidelines.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.