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Open Access

Retraction

Retraction: Berberine inhibits invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells via COX-2/PGE2 mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway

  • The PLOS One Editors

After this article [1] was published, concerns were raised regarding Figs 2, 3, 5 and 6.

Specifically:

  • There appears to be partial or full overlap between the following panels:
    • The Migration - sh-1/COX-2 panel in the LoVo cells of Fig 2E and the Invasion - AZD1480– panel in the LoVo cells of Fig 3C.
    • The p-JAK2 panel in LoVo cells of Fig 3A in [1] and the CD44 panel in Fig 4 (e) of [2] (Retracted in [3]).
    • Lanes 1-4 of the Stat3 panel in LoVo cells of Fig 5C and lanes 1-4 of the β-actin panel in LoVo cells of Fig 5D, when flipped horizontally and with altered aspect ratio.
    • The Stat3 – Vector panel in the SW620 cells of Fig 6A in [1] and the β-actin panel in Fig 6 (g) of [2] (Retracted in [3]).
  • There appear to be vertical discontinuities in the following panels of [1]:
    • Between lanes 1 and 2 of the p-Stat3 panel in SW620 cells of Fig 5A.
    • Between lanes 1 and 2 of the p-Stat3 panel in LoVo cells of Fig 5A.

Regarding the overlap between Figs 2E and 3C, the first author stated that the Migration - sh-1/COX-2 panel in the LoVo cells of Fig 2E is correct, but was mistakenly duplicated in Fig 3C and therefore the Invasion - AZD1480– panel in the LoVo cells of Fig 3C is incorrect. The first author provided underlying images for Fig 2E, however, PLOS identified what appears to be partial and full panel overlap within this set of data, with the shRNA/NT panel in Fig 5C of [4], and with panels in Figs 2C, 4B and 6A of [5].

The first author also provided underlying images and individual-level quantitative data for all other figures in [1] and replicate data completed at an unknown date for Fig 3C, for which PLOS also identified what appears to be partial panel overlap within panels of this dataset.

Given the nature and extent of the above unresolved concerns which bring the reliability and integrity of the results and conclusions into question, the PLOS One Editors retract articles [1] and [5]. The retraction notice for [5] can be found in [6].

PLOS also noted that the methods section of [1] does not appear to report the method of euthanasia, humane endpoints, or if any control animals died during the study.

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

References

  1. 1. Liu X, Ji Q, Ye N, Sui H, Zhou L, Zhu H, et al. Berberine inhibits invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells via COX-2/PGE2 mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0123478. pmid:25954974
  2. 2. Liu F, Yuan Q, Cao X, Zhang J, Cao J, Zhang J, et al. Isovitexin suppresses stemness of lung cancer stem-like cells through blockage of MnSOD/CaMKII/AMPK signaling and glycolysis inhibition. Biomed Res Int. 2021;2021:9972057. pmid:34195288
  3. 3. International BR. Retracted: isovitexin suppresses stemness of lung cancer stem-like cells through blockage of MnSOD/CaMKII/AMPK signaling and glycolysis inhibition. Biomed Res Int. 2024;2024:9802384. pmid:38230121
  4. 4. Ji Q, Zhang L, Liu X, Zhou L, Wang W, Han Z, et al. Long non-coding RNA MALAT1 promotes tumour growth and metastasis in colorectal cancer through binding to SFPQ and releasing oncogene PTBP2 from SFPQ/PTBP2 complex. Br J Cancer. 2014;111(4):736–48. pmid:25025966
  5. 5. Ji Q, Liu X, Fu X, Zhang L, Sui H, Zhou L, et al. Resveratrol inhibits invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells via MALAT1 mediated Wnt/β-Catenin signal pathway. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(11):e78700.
  6. 6. PLOS One Editors. Retraction: resveratrol inhibits invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells via MALAT1 mediated Wnt/β-Catenin signal pathway. PLoS ONE. 2025;20(7):e0328009.

Citation: The PLOS One Editors (2025) Retraction: Berberine inhibits invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells via COX-2/PGE2 mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. PLoS One 20(7): e0328009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328009

Published: July 14, 2025

Copyright: © 2025 The PLOS One Editors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.