[Retracted] Mechanism of cell death induced by silica nanoparticles in hepatocyte cells is by apoptosis

Following the publication of this article, a concerned reader drew to the Editor's attention that the image showing silica nanoparticles in Fig. 1 on p. 906 had also been used to show the same data in another paper published by the same research group in International Journal of Molecular Medicine. Upon performing a separate investigation of the data in this paper in the Editorial Office, it also came to light that flow cytometric plots featured in Fig. 3 on p. 908 had originally been included in a paper featuring some of the same authors that had already been published in International Journal of Nanomedicine, and western blot data featured in Fig. 7 on p. 910 were originally included in another paper featuring some of the same authors in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Given the apparent re‑use of the abovementioned data in this article from previously published papers, the Editor of International Journal of Molecular Medicine has decided that this article should be retracted from the Journal. 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. [International Journal of Molecular Medicine 44: 903‑912, 2019; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2019.4265]