Abstract
Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editors' attention by a concerned reader that certain of the flow cytometric data shown in Fig. 4I were strikingly similar to data appearing in different form in another article by different authors. Owing to the fact that the contentious data in the above article had already been published elsewhere prior to its submission to International Journal of Molecular Medicine, the Editor has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused [International Journal of Molecular Medicine 46: 119‑130, 2020; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2020.4581].