Tetramethylpyrazine alleviates lipopolysaccharide-induced damage in ATDC5 cells via down-regulating MyD88
Authors: Qiang Li
Hongbin Sun
Wanying Xing
Yisha He
Sulong Wang
Yueshu Wang
Xiong Xu
Journal: Experimental and Molecular Pathology (2019)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: Lipopolysaccharide; Myeloid differentiation factor 88; NF-κB; Osteoarthritis; Tetramethylpyrazine
Affiliations: Department of Hand Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, Jilin, China., Department of Breast Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, Jilin, China., Department of Hand Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, Jilin, China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief and the authors. Following the concerns raised about the background pattern of the Western Blots from Figures 7A and 7C, the authors have contacted the journal to request the retraction of the article as they were reportedly not confident of the accuracy of the data and the conclusions of the article. Given the comments of Dr Elisabeth Bik regarding this article “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”, the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data. However, the authors were not able to fulfil this request and therefore the Editor-in-Chief decided to retract the article. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Can the authors comment on the appearance of the same background texture in different Western blot bands, across different conditions across the figures? Here, Fig. 7,  Effects of MyD88 overexpression on NF-u03baB and p38MAPK pathways. (A) The expression levels of p t-lu03baBu03b1 and p t-p65 after pc-MyD88 transfection (48 h) and LPS (12 h) + TMP (24 h) treatment were investigated by western blot. (C) The expression level of p t-p38MAPK after pc-MyD88 transfection (48 h) and LPS (12 h) + TMP (24 h) treatment was estimated by western blot. Contrast-increased version at right. ![file] ![file] , 
 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 , 
 Retracted [23 May 2022] . -------------------- This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief and the authors. Following the concerns raised about the background pattern of the Western Blots from Figures 7A and 7C, the authors have contacted the journal to request the retraction of the article as they were reportedly not confident of the accuracy of the data and the conclusions of the article. Given the comments of Dr Elisabeth Bik regarding this article [u201cThis 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 panelsu201d] , the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data. However, the authors were not able to fulfil this request and therefore the Editor-in-Chief decided to retract the article. ,