Shigeaki Kato notches retractions 16 and 17, in PNAS

Shigeaki Kato has two more retractions, both in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Here’s one of the notices:

Retraction for “Distinct function of 2 chromatin remodeling complexes that share a common subunit, Williams syndrome transcription factor (WSTF),” by Kimihiro Yoshimura, Hirochika Kitagawa, Ryoji Fujiki, Masahiko Tanabe, Shinichiro Takezawa, Ichiro Takada, Ikuko Yamaoka, Masayoshi Yonezawa, Takeshi Kondo, Yoshiyuki Furutani, Hisato Yagi, Shin Yoshinaga, Takeyoshi Masuda, Toru Fukuda, Yoko Yamamoto, Kanae Ebihara, Dean Y. Li, Rumiko Matsuoka, Jun K. Takeuchi, Takahiro Matsumoto, and Shigeaki Kato, which appeared in issue 23, June 9, 2009, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (106:9280–9285; first published May 26, 2009; 10.1073/pnas.0901184106).

The authors note, “Recently it has come to our attention that Fig. 3D contained inappropriate data arrangements and manipulations. To avoid further confusion to the related scientific community, we hereby retract this report. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience from this outcome. All of the authors agreed with the retraction.”

The paper has been cited 25 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.

And here’s the other, for a paper cited 8 times:

Retraction for “Testis-specific protein on Y chromosome (TSPY) represses the activity of the androgen receptor in androgen-dependent testicular germ-cell tumors,” by Chihiro Akimoto, Takashi Ueda, Kazuki Inoue, Ikuko Yamaoka, Matomo Sakari, Wataru Obara, Tomoaki Fujioka, Akira Nagahara, Norio Nonomura, Syuichi Tsutsumi, Hiroyuki Aburatani, Tsuneharu Miki, Takahiro Matsumoto, Hirochika Kitagawa, and Shigeaki Kato, which appeared in issue 46, November 16, 2010, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (107:19891–19896; first published November 1, 2010; 10.1073/pnas.1010307107).

The authors wish to note, “Recently it has come to our attention that inappropriate data arrangements and manipulations were made in Figs. 1, 2C, S4A, S4B, and 5. To avoid further confusion to the related scientific community, we hereby retract this report. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience from this outcome. All of the authors agree with the retraction.”

A panel at the University of Tokyo, from which Kato resigned in 2012, recommended that 43 of his papers be retracted.

Hat tip: Tim D. Smith