Concerns have been raised about discrepancies in the methods and results between this article [1] and a related thesis by the first author [2]. In response, the first author stated that the discrepancies are due to errors in [2]. The first author also provided the underlying data for this article [S1–S9 Files] and additional information on the antibodies used in [1] (Table 1). The VEGFR2 antibody details were not clarified.

A member of the Editorial Board reviewed the concerns and authors’ responses, and was satisfied with the responses, but noted that hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) staining is mentioned in the Materials and Methods in [1] but is not shown.