This article (1) has been retracted at the request of the corresponding author, K. Huebner. Examination of the data uncovered unexpected similarities in certain figures in this study. In addition, data in several figures from this study appear to overlap with data previously published by the authors in an earlier Oncogene article (2). This information was communicated to the corresponding author, who was not able to locate the original data from 2005, but who agreed that there were aberrations in the data that could not be explained. Specifically:
The same image seems to have been used to represent the GFP blot in Fig. 1Aa of this study (1) and the GFP blots in Fig. 1Ab of the Oncogene study (2).
The Ad-FHIT-wt GAPDH blot and the Ad-FHIT-Y114F GAPDH blot in Fig. 3A of this study (1) seem to match, respectively, the first six lanes of the A549 GAPDH blot and the last six lanes of the H1299 GAPDH blot in Fig. 1Ab of the Oncogene study (2).
In Figure 4C of this study (1):
CDK4 blots in the first, third, and fourth columns seem to share a common origin.
The p21CIP1 blots in the first, third, and fourth columns seem to share a common origin. There are differences in the intensity of signal between these three blots, but the similarity of the band patterns suggests that these may represent multiple different exposures from the same blot.
The first two lanes of the p21CIP1 blot in the second column seem to match the first two lanes of the p21CIP1 blot in Fig. 4A. Similarly, the last two lanes of the p21CIP1 blot in the second column of Fig. 4C seem to match the fourth and fifth lanes of the p21CIP1 blot in Fig. 4A.
Given the potential issues outlined herein and that the original data are no longer available to correct the record, the corresponding author has requested that the study be retracted. The corresponding author apologizes to the scientific community and regrets any inconveniences or challenges resulting from the publication and subsequent retraction of this article.
Footnotes
Mol Cancer Res 2021;19:740
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