ShouWei Han, who has been forced to retract six papers from various physiology journals following an investigation into his work by his former employer, the University of Louisville, has added another one to his tally.
Here’s the notice, from the American Journal of Physiology: Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology:
The authors request the retraction of the following article published in the Am J Physiol: Han S, Ritzenthaler JD, Zheng Y, Roman J. PPARβ/δ agonist stimulates human lung carcinoma cell growth through inhibition of PTEN expression: the involvement of PI3K and NF-κB signals. Am J Physiol Lung Cell and Mol Physiol 294:L1238-L1249, 2008.
The reasons for this request are as follows. Data presented in figure 1G were manipulated and duplicated in figure 4C. Images presented in figures 1A, B, E, and H were manipulated and represent duplications of data presented elsewhere. Also, actin controls for figures 6F and 6H and for figures 5A and 5B were duplicated.
An investigation conducted by the University of Louisville concluded that the digital manipulations and image duplications were performed by the first and corresponding author, ShouWei Han, without the knowledge of the other co-authors. ShouWei Han has not responded to requests by the journal or the investigators. Therefore, the co-authors have requested the retraction of this article and apologize to the readers of the journal.
The paper has been cited 24 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.