1. Published 2007 in PNAS. Retracted 2011.
https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article/434/3/571/80024/Activation-of-hypoxia-inducible-factor-1-in-human

This is a retraction to: Activation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 in human T-cell leukaemia virus type 1-infected cell lines and primary adult T-cell leukaemia cells.

Following an investigation by the University of the Ryukyus, which revealed that figures that appeared within this paper had also been used in other papers without appropriate attribution or explanation (a pattern repeated over a number of publications in different journals), the Editorial Board of the Biochemical Journal retract this paper. The last author, Naoki Mori, takes full responsibility for the misrepresentation of data in this paper.

2. Published 2013 in PNAS. Retracted 2022.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2213288119

Retraction for “Hypoxia-inducible factors mediate coordinated RhoA-ROCK1 expression and signaling in breast cancer cells,” by Daniele M. Gilkes, Lisha Xiang, Sun Joo Lee, Pallavi Chaturvedi, Maimon E. Hubbi, Denis Wirtz, and Gregg L. Semenza, which was first published December 9, 2013; 10.1073/pnas.1321510111 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, E384–E393).

The undersigned authors note, “We are retracting this article due to concerns with several of the published figures. Details of the concerns include: Possible duplication of data between lanes 1–2, 4, and 5–7 of the HIF2α panel of Figure 1D and lanes 1–2, 3, and 4–6 of the HIF2α panel of Figure 3B, respectively. In Figure 2B: possible duplication of data between lanes 8 and 10 of the HIF1α panel; possible splicing between lanes 8 and 9 of the RhoA panel; and possible duplication of data between lanes 6 and 9, and between lanes 8 and 10 of the ROCK1 panel. Possible duplication of data between the full ROCK1 panel of Figure 2B and the full pFAK panel of Figure 5D. Possible duplication of data between the full Actin panel of Figure 3B and the full Actin panel of Figure S3E. Additionally, possible duplication of data between lanes 2–5 of these panels and lanes 1–4 of the Actin panel of Figure S3D. Possible duplication of data between lanes 1 and 2 of the HIF1α panel of Figure 5C. Possible duplication of data between lanes 1 and 4 of the Total FAK panel of Figure 6A, including an unusual oval shape around the band in lane 4. Possible obscuring of data in the shEV 1% O2 stiff panel and in the sh1/2α 20% O2 stiff panel of Figure 6E. We believe that the overall conclusions of the paper remain valid, but we are retracting the work due to these underlying concerns about the figures. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Lisha Xiang, Pallavi Chaturvedi, Denis Wirtz and Gregg L. Semenza

3. Published 2013 in PNAS. Retracted 2022.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2213287119

Retraction for “Mutual antagonism between hypoxia-inducible factors 1α and 2α regulates oxygen sensing and cardio-respiratory homeostasis,” by Guoxiang Yuan, Ying-Jie Peng, Vaddi Damodara Reddy, Vladislav V. Makarenko, Jayasri Nanduri, Shakil A. Khan, Joseph A. Garcia, Ganesh K. Kumar, Gregg L. Semenza, and Nanduri R. Prabhakar, which was first published April 22, 2013; 10.1073/pnas.1305961110 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, E1788–E1796).

The authors note, “We are retracting this article due to concerns with Figure 5. In Figure 5A, there is a concern that the first and second lanes of the HIF-2α panel show the same data, and that the first and second lanes of the HIF-1α panel show the same data, despite all being labeled as unique data. In Figure 5D, there is a concern that the second and third lanes of the HIF-1β panel show the same data despite being labeled as unique data. We believe that the overall conclusions of the paper remain valid, but we are retracting the work due to these underlying concerns about the figure. Confirmatory experimentation has now been performed and the results can be found in a preprint article posted on bioRxiv, ‘Homeostatic responses to hypoxia by the carotid body and adrenal medulla are based on mutual antagonism between HIF-1α and HIF-2α’ (https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.11.499380). We apologize for the inconvenience.”

4. Published 2009 in PNAS. Retracted 2022.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2213285119

Retraction for “Anthracycline chemotherapy inhibits HIF-1 transcriptional activity and tumor-induced mobilization of circulating angiogenic cells,” by KangAe Lee, David Z. Qian, Sergio Rey, Hong Wei, Jun O. Liu, and Gregg L. Semenza, which was first published February 17, 2009; 10.1073/pnas.0812801106 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 2353–2358).

The undersigned authors note, “We are retracting this article due to concerns with Figure 2. There is a concern of possible duplication and reflection of the bands in the VEGF Promoter input panel between the left and right halves of the panel. We believe that the overall conclusions of the paper remain valid, but we are retracting the work due to this underlying concern about the figure. Confirmatory experimentation has now been performed and the results can be found in a preprint article posted on bioRxiv, ‘Daily administration of low-dose daunorubicin or doxorubicin inhibits hypoxia-inducible factor 1 and tumor vascularization’ (https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.15.492526). We apologize for the inconvenience.”

David Z. Qian, Sergio Rey, Jun O. Liu, and Gregg L. Semenza

5. Published 2014 in PNAS. Retracted 2022
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2213289119

Retraction for “Hypoxia-inducible factors are required for chemotherapy resistance of breast cancer stem cells,” by Debangshu Samanta, Daniele M. Gilkes, Pallavi Chaturvedi, Lisha Xiang, and Gregg L. Semenza, which was first published December 1, 2014; 10.1073/pnas.1421438111 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, E5429–E5438).

The authors note, “We are retracting this article due to concerns with several of the published figures, which we believe to be the result of the wrong images having been selected during construction of the figures. Details of the concerns include: Possible duplication of data between the Pac + IL8 nAb panel of Figure 3E and the Vehicle panel of Figure 5F. Possible splicing between the first and second lanes of the HIF-1α panel of Figure 4. Possible duplication of data between the full SUM-159 Actin panel of Figure 6C and lanes 2–5 of the MDA-231 Actin panel of Figure 8A. Possible duplication of data between the Digoxin and the Gemcitabine + Digoxin panels of Figure S5A. Possible duplication of data between the Actin panels of Figure S6C and S6E. The correct images were identified and no new experimentation was required to correct the issues noted above. These updated figures can be found in a preprint article posted on bioRxiv, ‘Enrichment of breast cancer stem cells following cytotoxic chemotherapy is mediated by hypoxia-inducible factors’ (https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.27.497729). We believe that the overall conclusions of the paper remain valid, but we are retracting the work due to these underlying concerns about the figures. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

6. Published 2009 in PNAS. Retracted 2023.
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2305537120

Retraction of “Acriflavine inhibits HIF-1 dimerization, tumor growth, and vascularization,” by KangAe Lee, Huafeng Zhang, David Z. Qian, Sergio Rey, Jun O. Liu, and Gregg L. Semenza, which was first published October 20, 2009; 10.1073/pnas.0909353106 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 17910–17915).

The undersigned authors note, “We are retracting this article due to issues regarding the bottom panel of Figure 2D. Visible in this blot are the GST-HIF-1β band of interest at the top, a faint doublet in the middle, and a strong band migrating just above GST at the bottom, which is likely a degradation product of GST-HIF-1β. It appears that in the middle doublet, lanes 2, 5, and 8 are duplicate images; lanes 3, 6, and 9 are duplicate images; and lanes 4 and 7 are duplicate images. There is also concern of possible manipulation of the data shown across the bottom band. We believe that the overall conclusions of the paper remain valid, but we are retracting the work due to these underlying concerns about the figure. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

David Z. Qian, Sergio Rey, Jun O. Liu, and Gregg L. Semenza

7. Published 2009 in Ocogene. Retracted 2023.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41388-023-02720-8

Retraction to: Oncogene https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2011.365, published online 22 August 2011

The authors have retracted this article as multiple image irregularities have been noted within this article, specifically:

Figure 1A, upper panel (HIF-1a blot), lanes five and seven appear to be duplicates.

Figure 6B, lower panel (b-actin blot), the first six lanes appear to be identical to Fig. 6G, lower panel (b-actin blot).

Figure 3G, the image of the third mouse in the D10 Saline group is identical to the image of the third mouse in the D21 Digoxin group.

G Semenza, CC Wong, P Korangath, L Schito, J Chen, B Krishnamachary, V Raman and S Sukumar agree to this retraction. D Gilkes does not agree to this retraction. H Zhang and W Mitzner have not responded to any correspondence from the editor about this retraction. The editor was not able to obtain current email addresses for H Wei, P Chaturvedi, L Zhen and PT Winnard.