Retraction

Abstract

Retraction: "Notch-1 down-regulation by curcumin is associated with the inhibition of cell growth and the induction of apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells" by Wang Z, Zhang Y, Banerjee S, Li Y, Sarkar FH. The above article, published in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement amongst the journal Editor in Chief, Fadlo R. Khuri; Wiley Periodicals, Inc.; and the American Cancer Society following an investigation by Wayne State University into the research activities of the first and last authors. The investigation found clear evidence that the 4-lane Rb bands for Figures 4A, 4B, 5D, and 6D are duplicated and manipulated and re-labeled. The investigation further found no evidence that the 4-lane Rb bands correspond to the assays above them. In addition, the investigation found clear evidence that the 2-lane Rb bands for Figure 4C are duplicated and manipulated and re-labeled Rb bands. The investigation further found no evidence that the 2-lane Rb bands correspond to the "supershift" assays they accompany. There is no evidence that these loading control assays were run at all. The investigation also found that the β-actin bands image in Figure 3D and 5A are re-labeled and manipulated copies of the β-actin bands image in Figure 3C of Int J Cancer. 2006 Apr 15;118(8):1930-6. Finally, the investigation found that the β-actin bands image in Figure 6A is a re-labeled and manipulated copy of Figure 3A of Int J Cancer. 2006 Apr 15;118(8):1930-6, representing two very different experiments. The investigation committee concluded that this undermined the scientific basis of the publication, that no credible replacement data were available, and advised that the publication should be retracted.

References: Wang, Z., Zhang, Y., Banerjee, S., Li, Y. and Sarkar, F. H. (2006), Notch-1 down-regulation by curcumin is associated with the inhibition of cell growth and the induction of apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. Cancer, 106: 2503-2513. doi: 10.1002/cncr.21904 Wang, Z., Zhang, Y., Banerjee, S., Li, Y. and Sarkar, F. H. (2006), Inhibition of nuclear factor κb activity by genistein is mediated via Notch-1 signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. Int. J. Cancer, 118: 1930-1936. doi: 10.1002/ijc.21589.