Retracted: Diversity of ants across an altitudinal gradient in and outside a spruce forest in the Harz Mountains,Germany

Retraction: The following article from Insect Science, ‘Diversity of ants across an altitudinal gradient in and outside a spruce forest in the Harz Mountains, Germany’ by Marc Srour, Germano Leão Demolin Leite, Torsten Wappler, Teja Tscharntke and Christoph Scherber, published online on 2 August 2012 in Wiley Online Library ( http://wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Le Kang, and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to concerns having been raised about the validity of the species richness values derived by the authors, and regarding the validity of the species determinations.     

Expression of Concern: Pari,L. and Rajarajeswari,N. (2011). Antioxidant role of coumarin on streptozotocin–nicotinamide‐induced type 2 diabetic rats. J. Biochem. Mol. Toxicol., 25: 355‐361. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbt.20395

This expression of concern is for the above article, published online on May 31, 2011, in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), and has been published by agreement between the journal Editor‐in‐Chief, Dr Hari K. Bhat, and Wiley Periodicals, LLC. This expression of concern has been issued following concerns raised regarding the appearance of Figure 4A and the narrow range of standard deviations presented in Tables 1 and 2. The authors and the authors' institution failed to respond to a request from the Publisher and the Editor‐in‐Chief to investigate whether the images and data arose from the originally reported experiments, are unmodified, and are suitable for publication. As a result, the journal is issuing this expression of concern to readers.     

Retraction: The Escherichia coli ycbQRST operon encodes fimbriae with laminin-binding and epithelial cell adherence properties in Shiga-toxigenic E. coli O157:H7

Samadder, P., Xicohtencatl-Cortes, J., Saldaña, Z., Jordan, D., Tarr, P.I., Kaper, J.B., & Girón, J.A. The Escherichia coli ycbQRST operon encodes fimbriae with laminin-binding and epithelial cell adherence properties in Shiga-toxigenic E.coli O157:H7. Environmental Microbiology, 11, 1815–1826. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.01906.x The above article, published online 1 July 2009 on Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor-in-Chief, Applied Microbiology International and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to concerns raised by a third party regarding the appearance of Figures 2 and 7. Figure 7D appears to be digitally manipulated while Figure 7F is a duplication of Figure 2, Lane 4. The raw data were not available upon request. As a result, the data and the conclusions are considered unreliable.     

Retraction statement: Advances in the physiological and pathological implications of cholesterol

The above article, published online on 28 February 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor in Chief, William Foster, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to the publication of a similar paper by the same authors (with the exclusion of P Mardones) in Frontiers in Bioscience in January 2014. The authors believed that they had taken the necessary steps to withdraw their paper from Frontiers in Bioscience before they submitted to Biological Reviews in June 2012.     

Expression of Concern

“MiRNA‐218 regulates osteoclast differentiation and inflammation response in periodontitis rats through MMP9”, Cell. Microbiol. 2019;21:e12979, by Jie Guo, Xuemin Zeng, Jie Miao, Chunpeng Liu, Fulan Wei, Dongxu Liu, Zhong Zheng, Kang Ting, Chunling Wang, and Yi Liu. The Editors of Cellular Microbiology and the publisher John Wiley & Sons agree to publish an Expression of Concern regarding the above article, published online in Cellular Microbiology on November 16, 2018, in Wiley Online Library ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cmi.12979 ). In September 2019, the journal was contacted regarding concerns about the data presented in Figures 6 and 7 because of high level of similarities in the graphs presented in these figures. The different bars in the graphs show identical height. The standard deviation bars are also of identical length. Although one graph expresses the number of TRAP‐positive cells (Figure 6b) and the other graphs express the relative mRNA expression of different osteoclast‐related genes (Figure 6c‐g), all graphs are identical. The bars in the graphs in Figure 7 that represent 5 different osteoclast genes show the same height. Figures 6 and 7 show identical mRNA expression for a series of different genes: V‐ATPase, NFATc1, CTSK, DC‐STAMP and TRAP. In December 2019, the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data of the experiments presented in the article and for explanations of the similarities. The authors responded that the similarities were due to unintentional errors and provided Excel spread sheets containing processed data in March 2020. The data provided in the Excel sheets that were sent by the authors were analyzed and it was concluded that the calculations as shown in the Excel sheets are correct. However, the concerns raised regarding similarities in the heights of bars representing different parameters and narrow range of standard deviations presented in Figures 6–7 remained. The authors disagree with the concerns raised. In addition, the editors were concerned by manipulations of western blot images to represent single bands instead of doublets for COL1 in Figures 5 and 8 and for MMP9 in Figures 3A and C, 4C, 5A and D, and 8A. The first issue concerning COL1 bands has been addressed and corrected during the peer‐review process. The latter has been clarified after publication and following a request from the editors for the raw data of all figures in the article. In the published article, western blots of MMP‐9 in Figures 3A and C, 4C, 5A and D, and 8A show active‐MMP‐9 only and do not include pro‐MMP‐9 bands that were present in the original western blot experiments. The authors explained that on the original blots that were provided during the peer‐review process, MMP‐9 show doublets that represent pro‐MMP‐9 and active‐MMP‐9. As no significant difference was found for pro‐MMP‐9, the authors only presented single bands for active‐MMP‐9 in the publication version. The authors’ institution, Shandong University, did not respond to a request from the Publisher and the Editor‐in‐Chief to investigate whether the data arose from the originally reported experiments, are unmodified, and are suitable for publication. As a result, the journal is issuing this expression of concern to readers.     

Withdrawal: Cai,Z.,Wu,H., Xu,X. and Li,W. (2019),Down‐regulation of miR‐26 plays essential roles in TGFβ‐induced EMT. Cell Biol Int. Accepted Author Manuscript. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11029

The above article, published online on 04 July 2018 in Wiley Online Library ( https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11029 ), has been withdrawn by agreement with the journal Editor, Sergio Schenkman, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The withdrawal has been agreed because the authors have not provided final corrections.     

Retraction: Circular RNA‐0007874 (circMTO1) reverses chemoresistance to temozolomide by acting as a sponge of microRNA‐630 in glioblastoma by Jiang Rao,Xinxin Cheng,Huimin Zhu,Lifeng Wang,Li Liu

The above article, published online on 11 December 2018 in Wiley Online Library ( https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11080 ), has been withdrawn by agreement with the journal Editor, Sergio Schenkman, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The withdrawal has been agreed because the authors have not provided a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement.     

Retraction: SODD promotes glucose uptake of colorectal cancer cells via AKT pathway by Rui Zhang,Jibin Li,Xiaofei Yan,Keer Jin,Wenya Li,Jian Xu,Jian Zhao,Jinghui Bai,Xiaohui Su

The above article, published online on 31 October 2017 in Wiley Online Library ( https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.10907 ), has been withdrawn by agreement with the journal Editor, Sergio Schenkman, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The withdrawal has been agreed because the authors have not provided a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement.     

Retraction: MiR‐506‐3p inhibits cell proliferation,induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in retinoblastoma by directly targeting NEK6 by Lina Wu,Zhen Chen,Yiqiao Xing

The above article, published online on 06 August 2018 in Wiley Online Library ( https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11041 ), has been withdrawn by agreement with the journal Editor, Sergio Schenkman, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The withdrawal has been agreed because the authors have not provided a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement.     

Withdrawal: Cai,H., Tao,X., Zheng,L., Huang,L., Peng,Y., Liao,R. and Zhu,Y. (2019), Ozone alleviates ischemia‐reperfusion injury by inhibiting mitochondrion‐mediated apoptosis pathway in SH‐SY5Y cells. Cell Biol Int. Accepted Author Manuscript. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11087

The above article, published online on 20 December 2018 in Wiley Online Library ( https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11087 ), has been withdrawn by agreement with the journal Editor, Sergio Schenkman, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The withdrawal has been agreed because the authors have not provided a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement.     

Retraction: Fu,W., Wang,W., Wang,H., Zhu,X., Liang,Y., Kung,H. and Zhang,J. (2014), 1,3,5‐Trihydroxy‐13,13‐dimethyl‐2H‐pyran [7,6‐b] xanthone directly targets heat shock protein 27 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Cell Biol Int, 38: 272–276. doi:10.1002/cbin.10193

The above article from Cell Biology International, published online on 07 October 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ) has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor‐in‐Chief and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to an error in the detection method used.     

Withdrawn: Y. Yin,X. Lu,M. Yang,J. Shangguan,Y. Zhang. Inhibition of lncRNA MALAT1 reduces myocardial ischemia–reperfusion injury of rat cardiomyocytes through regulating the miR-135a-5p/HIF1AN axis,published in The Journal of Gene Medicine.

The above article, published online on 09 October 2021 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been withdrawn by agreement between the journal Editor in Chief, Gening Jiang, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The withdrawal has been agreed because the authors have not responded to repeated attempts to contact them to correct and approve the article proofs for publication of the version of record.     

Retracted: Terbium-sensitized fluorescence method for the determination of dopamine in biological fluids and tablet formulation

The following article from Luminescence, Terbium‐sensitized fluorescence method for the determination of dopamine in biological fluids and tablet formulation by Vahid Shahinfard, Ali Ehsani, Vahid Panahi‐Azar, Negar Kabir Yousefi and Morteza Salek Jalali, published online on 12th January 2012 in Wiley Online Library ( www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Professor L. J. Kricka and Wiley‐Blackwell. The retraction has been agreed due to data in the article is not being reproducible. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Withdrawn: ‘Circular RNA PTGR1 regulates 5-FU resistance and development of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by modulating miR-129-5p/ABCC1 axis’ by,Xiuxiu Li,and Ti Zhang

The above article from Cell Biology International, published online as Accepted Article on May 18, 2021, in Wiley Online Library ( https://doi.org/10.1002/cbin.11635 ) has been withdrawn by agreement among the Journal Editor-in-Chief Sergio Schenkmann, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. on behalf of the International Federation for Cell Biology. The withdrawal has been agreed after a detailed investigation. Several flaws and inconsistencies between results presented and experimental methods described were found, the editors consider the conclusions of this article to be invalid. The authors did not respond when asked to comment on these inconsistencies.