[Retracted] MicroRNA‑21 promotes the progression of peritoneal fibrosis through the activation of the TGF‑β/Smad signaling pathway: An in vitro and in vivo study.

Int J Mol Med 41: [Related article:] 1030‑1038, 2018; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2017.3268. An interested reader drew to our attention the fact that the western blots featured in Fig. 2B in the above article contained duplicated data: The data shown for the TGF‑β and vimentin protein bands were apparently identical; furthermore, there was a strong likelihood that the protein bands featured for the ZO‑1 and SMAD‑3 experiments were also the same, but flipped horizontally relative to the other. Following an investigation, the Journal was able to confirm that this duplication of the research data had probably occurred. On those grounds, the Editor of International Journal of Molecular Medicine has decided that the above paper should be retracted. We were unable to make contact with the authors of the article published in International Journal of Molecular Medicine, despite every effort to do so. The Editor deeply regrets any inconvenience that this retraction has caused to the the readership of the Journal.