RETRACTED ARTICLE: TNFα promotes glioblastoma A172 cell mitochondrial apoptosis via augmenting mitochondrial fission and repression of MAPK–ERK–YAP signaling pathways

This paper has been retracted.

Lu C, Chen X, Wang Q, Xu X, Xu B. Onco Targets Ther. 2018;11:7213–7227.

We, the Editors and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy, have retracted the following article.

Following publication of the article, concerns were raised about the duplication of images from Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 with images from other unrelated articles. Specifically,

• Images for Figure 1E have been duplicated with images for Figure 2a from Li X, Wu M, An D, et al. Suppression of Tafazzin promotes thyroid cancer apoptosis via activating the JNK signaling pathway and enhancing INF2-mediated mitochondrial fission. J Cell Physiol. 2019;234:16238–16251. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.28287 and 5I from Jieensinue S, Zhu H, Li G, et al. Tanshinone IIA reduces SW837 colorectal cancer cell viability via the promotion of mitochondrial fission by activating JNK-Mff signaling pathways. BMC Cell Biol. 2018;19:21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12860-018-0174-z.
• Images for Figure 2A have been duplicated with images for Figure 5H from Li R, Xin T, Li D, et al. Therapeutic effect of Sirtuin 3 on ameliorating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: The role of the ERK-CREB pathway and Bnip3-mediated mitophagy. Redox Biology. 2018;18:229–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2018.07.011.
• Images for Figure 3G have been duplicated with images for Figures 4A and 5C from Yu W, Xu M, Zhang T, et al. Mst1 promotes cardiac ischemia–reperfusion injury by inhibiting the ERK-CREB pathway and repressing FUNDC1-mediated mitophagy. J Physiol Sci. 2019;69:113–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12576-018-0627-3.
• Images for Figure 4A have been duplicated with images for Figure 2C from Zheng Z, Xiang S, Wang Y, et al. NR4A1 promotes TNF‑α‑induced chondrocyte death and migration injury via activating the AMPK/Drp1/mitochondrial fission pathway. International Journal of Molecular Medicine. 2020;45:151–161. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2019.4398.
• Images for Figure 4D have been duplicated with images for Figure 4K from Qin R, Zhang L, Lin D, Xiao F, Guo L. Sirt1 inhibits HG-induced endothelial injury: Role of Mff-based mitochondrial fission and F‑actin homeostasis-mediated cellular migration. International Journal of Molecular Medicine. 2019;44:89–102. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2019.4185.
• Images for Figure 5D have been duplicated with images for Figure 7d from Wang Q, Xu J, Li X, et al. Sirt3 modulate renal ischemia-reperfusion injury through enhancing mitochondrial fusion and activating the ERK-OPA1 signaling pathway. J Cell Physiol. 2019;234:23495–23506. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.28918.
• Images for Figure 5H have been duplicated with images for Figure 2A from Xie Y, Lv Y, Zhang Y, et al. LATS2 promotes apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells via triggering Mff-dependent mitochondrial fission and activating the JNK signaling pathway. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2019;109:679–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.097; Figure 3A from Ouyang H, Zhou E, Wang H. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Mst1-Hippo pathway triggers breast cancer apoptosis via inducing mitochondrial fragmentation in a manner dependent on JNK–Drp1 axis. Onco Targets Ther. 2019;12:1147–1159. https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S193787 and Figure 5H from Li R, Xin T, Li D, et al (2018).
• Images for Figure 6A have been duplicated with images for Figure 2A from Li J, Li N, Yan S, et al. Liraglutide protects renal mesangial cells against hyperglycemia‑mediated mitochondrial apoptosis by activating the ERK‑Yap signaling pathway and upregulating Sirt3 expression. Molecular Medicine Reports. 2019;19:2849–2860. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2019.9946.
• Images for Figure 6C have been duplicated with images for Figure 3I from Zhang W, Liu K, Pei Y, Ma J, Tan J, Zhao J. Mst1 regulates non-small cell lung cancer A549 cell apoptosis by inducing mitochondrial damage via ROCK1/F‑actin pathways. International Journal of Oncology. 2018;53:2409–2422. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2018.4586; Figure 3g from Qin R, Lin D, Zhang L, Xiao F, Guo L. Mst1 deletion reduces hyperglycemia-mediated vascular dysfunction via attenuating mitochondrial fission and modulating the JNK signaling pathway. J Cell Physiol. 2019;235:294–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.28969; Figure 5D from Xu P, Zhang G, Sha L, Hou S. RETRACTED: DUSP1 alleviates cerebral ischaemia reperfusion injury via inactivating JNKMff pathways and repressing mitochondrial fission. Life Sciences. 2018;210:251–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2018.08.049 and Figure 5g from Li X, et al (2019).
• Images for Figure 6F have been duplicated with images for Figure 1d from Zhang Y, Wang M, Xu X, Liu Y, Xiao C. Matrine promotes apoptosis in SW480 colorectal cancer cells via elevating MIEF1-related mitochondrial division in a manner dependent on LATS2-Hippo pathway. J Cell Physiol. 2019;234:22731–22741. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.28838 and Figure 1I from Zhang L, Li S, Wang R, et al. Anti-tumor effect of LATS2 on liver cancer death: Role of DRP1-mediated mitochondrial division and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2019;114:108825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108825.

The authors did not respond to our queries and were unable to provide an explanation for the duplicated images or provide data for the study. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article and the authors were notified of this.

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

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