Alisertib Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Autophagy and Suppresses Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Involving PI3K/Akt/mTOR and Sirtuin 1-Mediated signaling pathways in Human Pancreatic Cancer Cells [Retraction]

Wang F, Li H, Yan XG, et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2015;9:575–601. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S75221 We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal Drug Design, Development and Therapy, have retracted the published article. After publication, concerns have been raised by a third party in 2025 about the integrity of the data in Figures 2A, 12A and 13A of the article. Further investigation conducted by the Journal and Publisher confirmed unexpected similarities between the Western blots in Figure 13A of the article and the data presented in the authors’ other publication that are representative of different proteins and/or experimental conditions: Wang F, Wang Q, Zhou ZW, et al. Plumbagin induces cell cycle arrest and autophagy and suppresses epithelial to mesenchymal transition involving PI3K/Akt/mTOR-mediated pathway in human pancreatic cancer cells. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2015;9:537–560. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S73689 Additional data integrity concerns were identified in the Western blots shown in Figures 2A and 12A. When approached for an explanation, the authors checked their data and confirmed there are fundamental errors present. Therefore, they have agreed to the retraction of this article. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. The corresponding author listed in this publication has been informed. We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and the COPE guidelines. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.