Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that the control β‑actin western blots shown in Fig. 4C were strikingly similar to data appearing in different form in Fig. 9B in a previously published paper featuring one author in common; moreover, the immunoblotting experiments shown in Figs. 1B and D and 2B appeared to have been derived, either wholesale or in part, from data that had already appeared in the following publication: Lei Y, Liu H, Yang Y, Wang X, Ren N, Li B, Liu S, Cheng J, Fu X and Zhang J: Interaction of LHBs with C53 promotes hepatocyte mitotic entry: A novel mechanism for HBV‑induced hepatocellular carcinoma. Oncol Rep 29: 151‑159, 2012. Owing to the fact that the contentious data in the above article had already been published prior to its submission to International Journal of Oncology, and due to a lack of overall confidence in the presented data, the Editor has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Oncology 43: 1420‑1430, 2013; DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2013.2103].
Keywords: NMNAT2 protein; SIRT3 protein; acetylation; energy metabolism; lung neoplasms.