Retraction to: J Biomed Sci (2021) 28:53 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-021-00749-z

The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this Article. Concerns were raised about the authenticity of the western blot data. The Authors were unable to provide uncropped images of the original gels. Additionally, there are fundamental flaws in the flow cytometry apoptosis assay methodology. The Editor-in-Chief therefore no longer has confidence in the data and conclusions of this study.

Zhengyi Sun agrees to this retraction. Jingran Zhen has not explicitly stated whether they agree to this retraction notice. Qi Yu does not agree to this retraction. Jiangli Li, Xia Li, Xue Wang and Yaling Xiao have not responded to any correspondence from the editor about this retraction.