RETRACTED ARTICLE: Plumbagin induces cell cycle arrest and autophagy and suppresses epithelial to mesenchymal transition involving PI3K/Akt/mTOR-mediated pathway in human pancreatic cancer cells

This paper has been retracted.

Wang F, Wang Q, Zhou ZW, et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2015;9:537–560. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S73689

We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal, Drug Design, Development and Therapy, have retracted the published article.

After publication, concerns have been raised by a third party in 2025 about the integrity of the data in Figures 6, and 10 of the article.

Further investigation conducted by the Journal and Publisher confirmed the following:

• Unusual similarities between the flow cytometry plots in Figure 6.
• Unexpected similarities between the Western blots in Figure 10 and the Western blots in the authors other article. These are representative of different samples and treatment conditions:Wang F, Li H, Yan X, et al. Alisertib induces cell cycle arrest and autophagy and suppresses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition involving PI3K/Akt/mTOR and sirtuin 1-mediated signaling pathways in human pancreatic cancer cells. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2015;9:575–601. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S75221

Upon further review, the Journal and Publisher identified unexpected similarities between the Western blots in Figures 7 and 10, that are representative of different experimental conditions.

When approached for an explanation, the authors checked their data and confirmed there are fundamental errors present. Therefore, they have agreed to the retraction of this article. The authors apologise for this oversight.

As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. The corresponding author listed in this publication has been informed.

We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and the COPE guidelines.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.