Open Access

RETRACTION

[ARTICLE WITHDRAWN] MicroRNA-539 Inhibits the Epithelial‐Mesenchymal Transition of Esophageal Cancer Cells by Twist-Related Protein 1-Mediated Modulation of Melanoma-Associated Antigen A4

Cao Zhili ¹, Zheng Xiang², Cao Lei¹, Liang Naixin¹

1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
2 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, People’s Hospital of Beijing Daxing District, Beijing, P.R. China

Oncology Research 2018, 26(4), 529-536. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504017X14972679378357

Abstract

This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author in December 2020. STATEMENT FOR WITHDRAWAL OF MANUSCRIPT FROM ONCOLOGY RESEARCH Dear Editors, I am Dr. Naixin Liang. For some scientific reasons, my team and I are very sorry to apply to withdraw the manuscript "MicroRNA-539 Inhibits the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Esophageal Cancer Cells By Twist-Related Protein 1-Mediated Modulation of Melanoma Associated Antigen A4 (MAGEA4)". DOI: 10.3727/096504017 x14972679378357 Because of COVID-19, the lab we worked together was no longer functioning and closed. When reviewing the data of the paper completed in cooperation with the original laboratory, we found that some of the data in the above article were not scientific enough, some Western Blot images were not clear enough (as in FIG 1, the band of α-SMA was blurt and do not seem darker than vimentin but lighter than E-adherin), and some of the research data contained excessive standard errors (as in FIG 2B, standard error of vimentin and α-SMA of miR-539 mimic +Pb-TWIST1(IV) were too large , so the average of the expression may be not accurate), which may lead to the researchers' wrong interpretation of the data and misjudgment of its scientific nature. For the sake of rigor, we took the initiative to contact the experimental operator of the original study. Unfortunately, the person who completed the primary operation of the original study has left China to study in the United States. Due to COVID-19 and other reasons, we could not contact this experimenter to confirm the original research data, so we cannot repeat and verify the data for the time being. As the corresponding author, after found the problem, I contacted Dr. Zhili Cao and Xiang Zheng, and the other author, Dr. Lei Cao at the first time. I told them all the thing we found above. After careful discussion, all the author agreed that, based on the need of scientific, rigor, we are deeply sorry to apply to the editorial office for withdraw the paper. My team and I have noticed that your journal has been developing very well in recent years, and its impact factors have been rising all the way. Congratulations to your team! We are very sorry that there may be errors in our interpretation of the data due to our imprecise interpretation, thus affecting the scientific nature of the conclusion of the article. My team and I have complied with the AGREEMENT FOR WITHDRAWAL OF MANUSCRIPT, and have completed the payment of the fee on December 4, 2020, 300$. Please see the attachment for related procedures. We hope your journal would approve our application for retraction of this article. Sincerely Yours, Naixin Liang 2020.12.4

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