Following the publication of this article [1] concerns were raised about the results presented in Figs 1, 3–6, and S2–S3. Specifically,

• The following panels appear similar:
  • Fig 1D Akt and Fig 1E pAkt^Ser473 when flipped vertically
  • Fig 1D GAPDH, and Fig 1E XIAP and Fig 1E GAPDH when rotated 180°
  • Fig 3A Bax (left), Fig 3A Bad (left) when flipped vertically, and Fig 4C pAkt^S473 when flipped horizontally
  • Fig 3A Bcl-2 (left) and Fig 3A Bcl-2 (right)
  • Fig 3A GAPDH (left) and Fig 3A GAPDH (right)
  • Fig 4C GAPDH (top) of this article [1] and Fig 6E GAPDH (left) of [2, corrected in 3]
  • Fig 5D XIAP of this article [1] and Fig 5A XIAP of [4, retracted in 5]
  • Fig 5D Akt of this article [1], Fig 5A Akt of [4, retracted in 5], and Fig 6A FAK of [6]
  • Fig 5D GAPDH and Fig S3 U251 GAPDH of this article [1], Fig 5A GAPDH of [4, retracted in 5], Fig 5B GAPDH of [4, retracted in 5], Fig S3 GAPDH of [7] and Fig 7C GAPDH of [8, retracted in 9]
  • Fig 5F XIAP of this article [1], Fig 5C XIAP of [4, retracted in 5], Fig 5C PDGFR of [4, retracted in 5], and Fig 6G VEGFR1 of [6]
  • Fig 5F β-actin of this article [1] and Fig 5C β-actin of [4, retracted in 5]
  • Fig 6B TNF-α of this article [1] and Fig 7I STAT-3 of [8, retracted in 9]
  • Fig S3 5310 XIAP and Fig S3 5310 Akt
• The following panels appear to partially overlap:
  • Fig S2 U251 XIAP (lanes 1-2) and Fig S2 5310 XIAP (lanes 1-2) when flipped horizontally
  • Fig S2 SNB19 Bax and Fig S3 5310 TRAIL (lanes 2-4) when flipped vertically
  • Fig S2 U251 Bax (lanes 1-2) and Fig S3 5310 TRAIL (lanes 1-2) when rotated 180°
  • Fig S3 5310 GAPDH (lanes 1-4) of this article [1] and Fig 7G GAPDH (lanes 3-6) of [8, retracted in 9]
  • Fig S3 5310 GAPDH (lanes 1-3) of this article [1] and Fig 1B GAPDH (lanes 3-5) of [4, retracted in 5]

The authors did not respond to the journal’s communications.

In light of the above concerns that question the reliability and integrity of these results, the PLOS One Editors retract this article.

All authors either did not respond directly or could not be reached.