PLOS ONE Retracts Mouse Bone Cell Study Over Duplicated Image Panels

The retraction notice, published by the journal's Editors, states that the concerns raised after publication call into question the integrity and reliability of the published results. The issues center on figures presented in Figs 1, 2, and 5 of the paper. According to the notice, there appear to be multiple repetitive features within and between all Fig 1A panels.

In addition, the Fig 2D NFATc1 panel was found to appear similar to a Fig 3B NFATc1 panel in another published article, despite being used to represent different experimental conditions. More extensive overlaps were identified between Fig 5 of the retracted paper and Fig 4 of a separate publication. The Editors report that Fig 5a and Fig 4a appear to partially overlap when flipped, Fig 5b matches Fig 4b, Fig 5c overlaps Fig 4d when flipped, and Fig 5e and Fig 5f each overlap their Fig 4 counterparts.

Within the retracted article itself, Figs 5i and 5k also appear to partially overlap, again despite representing different experimental conditions. The Editors state that all authors either did not respond directly or could not be reached regarding the concerns. The retraction notice was published on October 19, 2026, and is associated with the DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0360868.

Subject of Research: Retraction of a PLOS ONE study on pyrroloquinoline quinone effects in mouse bone marrow cells due to duplicated image panels

Article Title: Retraction: Pyrroloquinoline Quinine Inhibits RANKL-Mediated Expression of NFATc1 in Part via Suppression of c-Fos in Mouse Bone Marrow Cells and Inhibits Wear Particle-Induced Osteolysis in Mice

Article References: The PLOS One Editors (2026). Retraction: Pyrroloquinoline Quinine Inhibits RANKL-Mediated Expression of NFATc1 in Part via Suppression of c-Fos in Mouse Bone Marrow Cells and Inhibits Wear Particle-Induced Osteolysis in Mice. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360868. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360868

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360868

Keywords: PLOS ONE, retraction, pyrroloquinoline quinone, NFATc1, c-Fos, RANKL, osteolysis, mouse bone marrow cells, image duplication, research integrity, figure manipulation, Pyrroloquinoline