After this article [1] was published, concerns were raised about results presented in Figs 2, 3, 5, 6 and Figure S1. Specifically:

• The BACE1 panel in Fig 2C appears similar to the BACE1 panel in the siRNA duplex A section in Figure S1 and to the BACE1 panel in the siRNA duplex B section in Figure S1 despite representing different experiments.
• The β-actin panel in Fig 2C appears similar to the β-actin panel in Fig 3A.
• The β-actin panel in Fig 5A appears similar to the β-actin panel in Fig 6A.
• In the IRP-1 panel in Fig 6A, lanes 3 and 4 appear similar to each other, and there appears to be a vertical discontinuity in the background between lanes 3 and 4 suggestive of possible image splicing.

The authors did not respond in full to queries about the experiments in Figs 2, 3, 5, 6 and Figure S1.

In light of the extent and nature of the concerns listed above that question the reliability of the reported results and conclusions, the PLOS ONE Editors retract this article.

JRPP, TL and JS either did not respond directly or could not be reached. OG did not respond directly to the editorial decision.