A suspicious scratched steel ruler may become the key evidence to identify the suspected same source of research data in 4 papers with different authors and different journals - "produced" by a "stealth" external laboratory or a third-party organization .

Questions and investigations triggered by the steel ruler have led to the withdrawal of three of the four papers, involving Jilin University, the First Hospital of Lanzhou University and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University respectively.

The remaining paper that has not yet been withdrawn involves the First Hospital of Lanzhou University.

A research paper of Jilin University was questioned due to the image of the steel ruler, and it was withdrawn after a year and a half of correction

On May 29, the international academic journal "Cancer Gene Therapy" (Cancer Gene Therapy) issued a retraction statement stating that due to a suspicious image of a scratched steel ruler in the picture of the paper, 1 published by the journal 3 years ago Research data in this paper have been questioned. This steel ruler also appeared in three other papers with different authors and different journals.

The journal "Gene Therapy of Tumors" has now withdrawn the paper involved. The corresponding author of the paper is Chen Dawei, a professor in the Department of Radiation Protection, Department of Radiation Medicine, School of Public Health, Jilin University.

This scratched steel ruler also appeared in three other papers with different authors and different journals. At present, 4 papers have been withdrawn and 3 have been withdrawn.

The title of the paper involved is "circular RNA (circRNA) circ_001504 promotes the development of renal cell carcinoma by sponging microRNA-149 to increase NUCB2 to promote the development of renal cell carcinoma" (circ_001504 promotes the development of renal cell carcinoma by sponging microRNA-149 to increase NUCB2), in Published online October 27, 2020.

A picture of the relevant suspicious steel ruler appears in Figure 6A of the paper.

The retraction statement of the journal "Gene Therapy of Tumors" stated that the editor-in-chief withdrew the aforementioned paper. After the paper involved was published, it was found that the ruler image in Figure 6 in the article seemed to be the same as the ruler image in the relevant pictures in other papers of other unrelated authors, such as papers "1", "2" and "3" . Therefore, people have concerns about the integrity of the research data involved. The authors of the papers in question did not respond to the journal's request for clarification. Nor did they provide relevant basic research data or evidence of ethical approval. As a result, the journal editor no longer has confidence in the integrity of the findings in the paper. The authors of the papers in question did not respond to any letters from the editor about the retraction.

The official website of the School of Public Health of Jilin University shows that Chen Dawei is a member and professor of the Radiation Protection Department of the School of Public Health of Jilin University, but more detailed information has been deleted.

The news released on the official website of the Radiation Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association in February 2022 shows that Chen Dawei is the fifth standing member of the Radiation Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association.

According to information released on the official website of Bethune First Hospital of Jilin University in April 2023, Chen Dawei is the chairman of the Jilin Provincial Nuclear Society.

On December 30, 2021, the paper involved corrected Figure 3, and the steel ruler in Figure 3A was replaced. But a year and a half later, the paper involved was still withdrawn.

The paper involved was published online on October 27, 2020. One year later, on December 30, 2021, the paper involved corrected that after the paper was published, the author reviewed the original experimental results and found that the records and statistical results of the tumor transplantation experiment in nude mice were not properly analyzed because the original results had not been properly analyzed. There is an error. Therefore, Figure 6 was revised with corrections. Although there are errors in the previous experimental records and statistical results, it does not affect the overall conclusion, and the overall result description is consistent.

One and a half years after the above-mentioned correction statement was issued, the paper involved was still withdrawn because of the doubts raised and aggravated by Figure 6.

The paper involved studied the role of the circ_001504/miR-149/NUCB2 feedback loop in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma. Despite steady improvements in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma over the years, the prognosis remains poor. The research data in this paper suggest that circ_001504 may serve as a competitive endogenous RNA for miR-149; reducing the expression of NUCB2 by adsorbing miR-149, thereby reducing the expression of circ_001504, can attenuate the progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

But the integrity of the research data has been called into question, and the paper has now been retracted.

Three of the four "steel rule" papers have been withdrawn, involving the First Hospital of Lanzhou University and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University respectively

It is worth noting that two of the other three papers mentioned in the aforementioned retraction statement have also been withdrawn. All of these mentioned and retracted papers show what appears to be the same steel ruler, because the scratches on the ruler in these pictures appear to be identical.

Therefore, on PubPeer, the post-publishing review website, some users commented that some data of the above papers may be provided by third parties or external laboratories that undertake outsourcing business, but the "author's contribution" statement of the relevant papers does not mention any external sources. source. And such anonymization is irresponsible as they may falsify data.

The corresponding author of another retracted paper " 1 " is Guan Quanlin, Chief Physician and Professor of Oncology Surgery , Lanzhou University First Hospital . The title of the paper involved is "Circ_002117 binds to microRNA-370, promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells" (Circ_002117 binds to microRNA-370 and promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer), published in September 2020 Published online on the 25th in the international academic journal Cancer Cell International, and was retracted on December 13, 2022.

The retraction notes state that there is a violation in Figure 3I.

A picture of the relevant suspicious steel ruler appears in Figure 3i of the paper.

The relevant retraction notes stated that the editors retracted the article. There are irregularities in Figure 3I and Figure 5H that cause one to lose confidence in the integrity of the results in this paper. Quanlin Guan disagreed with the retraction. The other authors did not respond to the publisher's letter regarding the retraction.

According to the official website of the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Guan Quanlin is mainly engaged in clinical and basic research on gastrointestinal tumors, especially in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer; he is currently the director of oncology surgery at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University; The person in charge, concurrently serves as a member of the Cancer Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

The corresponding author of the third retracted paper " 2 " is Yang Xuecheng, deputy director, associate professor, and associate chief physician of the urology ward of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University . The title of the paper involved is "Mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomal microRNA-139-5p restrains tumorigenesis in bladder cancer by targeting PRC1" (Mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomal microRNA-139-5p restrains tumorigenesis in bladder cancer by targeting PRC1), published online in the international academic journal Oncogen on October 29, 2020, and retracted on May 30, 2023.

The retraction statement states that the image of the steel ruler appearing in Figure 7 is the same as that used in other articles by unrelated authors.

A picture of the relevant suspicious steel ruler appears in Figure 7C of the paper.

The relevant retraction statement stated that the image of the steel ruler in Figure 7 of the involved paper is the same as that used by unrelated authors in other articles, which has caused people to worry about the integrity of the data in the involved paper. The authors did not respond to requests for clarification, did not provide underlying data or evidence of ethical approval, and did not respond to any letters from the journal editor regarding this retraction.

According to the official website of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Yang Xuecheng is good at minimally invasive treatment of genitourinary system tumors, and has extensive experience in minimally invasive surgery for kidney tumors, bladder tumors, adrenal gland tumors, prostatic hyperplasia, urinary calculi and other diseases, and has participated in a number of National Natural Science Foundation of China project, 2 provincial-level projects, and published many SCI papers. His academic part-time job includes being a member of the Minimally Invasive Group of the Youth Committee of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

The corresponding author of the paper " 3 ", which was mentioned in the retraction statement of the aforementioned journal "Gene Therapy of Tumors" but has not yet been withdrawn, is Zhou Wence, "General Surgery Department of the First Hospital of Lanzhou University" and "First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University".

According to public information, Zhou Wence is currently the deputy secretary and dean of the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University (Second Clinical Medical College), and concurrently serves as a member of the Big Data Collaboration Group of the Digestive Endoscopy Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. , "World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy", "Journal of Cancer", "Journal of Cancer Prevention and Treatment Research", "Journal of Clinical Hepatobiliary Diseases", "Journal of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery" and other journal editorial board members or reviewers.

The steel ruler in question also appears in 3 other papers.

The title of the paper involved is "miR-365 secreted from M2 Macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles promotes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma through the BTG2/FAK/AKT axis" (miR-365 secreted from M2 Macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles promotes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression through the BTG2/FAK/AKT axis), published online in the international academic journal "Journal of Cellular And Molecular Medicine" (Journal Of Cellular And Molecular Medicine) on April 3, 2021. A picture of the relevant suspicious steel ruler appears in Figure 6B of the paper.

Attach a link to the paper in question or a link to the relevant retraction instructions:

Link to Jilin University related paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41417-020-00247-8

Link to retraction instructions: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41417-023-00630-1

Link to paper "1": https://cancerci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12935-020-01493-4

Link to retraction instructions for paper "1": https://cancerci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12935-022-02826-1

Link to paper "2": https://www.nature.com/articles/s41388-020-01486-7

Link to the retraction instructions for paper "2": https://www.nature.com/articles/s41388-023-02726-2

Link to paper "3": https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcmm.16405