Abstract
Keywords
The following article has been retracted at the request of the Journal Editor and Sage Publications:
Yu Z, Wang L, Li X. Mir-3150B-3P Inhibits the Proliferation and Invasion of Cervical Cancer Cells by Targeting Tnfrsf11A. Journal of Investigative Medicine. 2020;68(6):1166-1170. doi:10.1136/jim-2020-001284
Sage was made aware of a PubPeer discussion regarding the figures in the article. The reader notes undisclosed reuse of images across different articles published in quick succession, which illustrate different experiments. The concerns raised were:
• Figure 5C, panel miR-3150 mimic+NC overlaps with Figure 2C, panel ASPC-1 / Ras + ATF2K357Q. [1]
• Figure 5C, panel MiR-3150 mimic +TNFRSF11a overlaps with Figure 4E, panel ASPC-1 / RAS + ATF2. [1]
• Figure 5C MiR-3150 mimic +TNFRSF11a partially overlaps with Figure 2D, panel SKOV3 / sh-LBX2-AS1#1. [2]
In addition to the concerns raised on PubPeer, the Journal Editor and Sage are concerned about Figure 4C which contains closely cropped Western blots.
Sage requested comments and underlying raw data from the authors to validate their research. Despite multiple attempts to contact the authors, they did not respond to the journal queries and as such the journal is unable to uphold the claims made by the authors in the article.
Sage reached out to the institution where the research was conducted to request the underlying raw data but received no response.
Due to the unresolved concerns about image integrity that call into question the validity of the findings the Editor of Journal of Investigative Medicine and Sage retracts the article.
The authors did not respond to the decision to retract.
1. Li M, Song SW, Ge Y, Jin JY, Li XY, Tan XD. The Ras-ERK signaling pathway regulates acetylated activating transcription factor 2 via p300 in pancreatic cancer cells. Ann Transl Med 2020;8(19):1234. doi: 10.21037/atm-20-5880
2. Cao J, Wang H, Liu G, et al. RETRACTED: LBX2-AS1 promotes ovarian cancer progression by facilitating E2F2 gene expression via miR-455-5p and miR-491-5p sponging. J Cell Mol Med. 2021; 25: 1178–1189. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcmm.16185