Korean J Physiol Pharmacol 2016;20(2):139-145

The Editors of Korean J Physiol Pharmacol have informed that this article may include the results of experiments that were not performed by the authors. This possibility has been described in an article published in Scientometrics (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2209-6) [1]. Although the corresponding author, Ping Zhong, claimed the experiments were performed by their team and the data collected were true and valid, not fabricated, all authors have admitted that they used inaccurate methods (inaccurate use of shRNA sequences) and inappropriate presentations of the article (plagiarism). All authors have agreed that retraction from the literature is the best corrective action to the scientific community, and apologize to the Editors and readership of Korean J Physiol Pharmacol. Given that the scientific integrity of this article has been compromised, the entire article has been retracted at the request of the authors and the Editors. We apologize to all affected parties for the inconveniences caused.