Emodin protects hyperglycemia-induced injury in PC-12‚ÄØcells by up-regulation of miR-9
Authors: Xiaobin Li
Lei Fan
Jingtao Ru
Guang Yang
Huifeng Zhang
Tao Liu
Journal: Molecular and cellular endocrinology (2018)
Discipline: BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Keywords: Diabetic foot; Diabetic peripheral neuropathy; Emodin; Hyperglycemia; PC-12‚ÄØcell
Affiliations: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, China., Department of Endocrinology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, China., Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors. Given the comments of Dr Elisabeth Bik regarding this article ‚Äú‚Ä?the Western blot bands in all 400+ papers are all very regularly spaced and have a smooth appearance in the shape of a dumbbell or tadpole, without any of the usual smudges or stains. All bands are placed on similar looking backgrounds, suggesting they were copy/pasted from other sources, or computer generated‚Ä? the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data. However, the authors were not able to fulfil this request and therefore the Editors decided to retract the article. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 This paper belongs to a set of over 400 papers (as per February 2020) that share very similar Western blots with tadpole-like shaped bands, the same background pattern, and striking similarities in title structures, paper layout, bar graph design, and - in a subset - flow cytometry panels. Despite these similarities, these papers are authored by researchers from different departments and institutes, with almost no overlap in authors. The list of these papers is available here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 1KXqTAyl4j-jVorFPMD2XRpr76LcIKJ0CVyIvRj0exYQ edit?usp=sharing A more detailed description of this set of papers, suspected to all be generated by a common source, a paper mill , can be found here: * https: forbetterscience.com 2020 01 24 the-full-service-paper-mill-and-its-chinese-customers (January 2020) * https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 02 21 the-tadpole-paper-mill (February 2020) The same paper mill has been described in these papers: * Jana Christopher - Systematic fabrication of scientific images revealed - FEBS Letters (2018) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13201 * Jennifer A Byrne and Jana Christopher - Digital magic, or the dark arts of the 21st centuryu2014how can journals and peer reviewers detect manuscripts and publications from paper mills? - FEBS Letters (2020) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13747 , 
 Expression of Concern, [1 November 2021] . ---------------------------------- The journal would like to alert readers to the fact that the paper has been included in a general set of allegations of several hundred papers described here: https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 02 21 the-tadpole-paper-mill . The journal is investigating the allegations according to COPE best practice. In the meantime, the Editors are issuing this Expression of Concern to alert readers with regard to the concerns raised about the reliability of the published images and data. We will provide further updates to readers once the investigations have concluded. ,