[Retracted] Intestinal trefoil factor activates the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway to protect gastric mucosal epithelium

Zhaorui Sun1, Hongmei Liu1, Zhizhou Yang1

  • 1Department of Emergency, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210002, P.R. China.

Insights

This paper has been retracted due to significant data duplication issues identified in migration and immunofluorescence assays. Concerns about data integrity led to the retraction of the published findings.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cell Biology
  • Scientific Publishing Ethics

Background:

  • Concerns were raised regarding data duplication in Transwell migration assays (Figs. 1C, 3C) and immunofluorescence experiments (Fig. 5).
  • Identified overlapping data panels across multiple figures and within revised submissions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To address concerns of data integrity and duplication in a published study.
  • To investigate the validity of presented experimental data.

Main Methods:

  • Review of experimental figures, including Transwell migration assays and immunofluorescence.
  • Independent data analysis by the Editorial Office.
  • Comparison of published data with subsequent publications by the same research group.

Main Results:

  • Significant duplication of data panels was found in multiple figures.
  • Overlapping data was present in original figures and revised submissions.
  • Identical images appeared in subsequent publications, raising further concerns.

Conclusions:

  • The study is retracted from the International Journal of Oncology due to a lack of confidence in the presented data.
  • Data duplication and potential mislabelling of files led to the retraction decision.
  • The authors accepted the retraction decision after review.

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