# RETRACTION: HDAC‐Inhibitor (S)‐8 Disrupts HDAC6‐PP1 Complex Prompting A375 Melanoma Cell Growth Arrest and Apoptosis

PMC · DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.71046 · 2026-01-29

## TL;DR

This retraction notice reveals that parts of a study on a drug's effect on melanoma cells were found to have duplicated images, leading to doubts about the study's validity.

## Contribution

The paper's original claim that the HDAC inhibitor (S)-8 disrupts a protein complex to stop melanoma cell growth is now retracted due to image duplication issues.

## Key findings

- Duplication was found in α-tubulin and AKT bands in specific figures.
- GAPDH bands in another figure were duplicated from a later article by the same authors.
- The journal editors lost confidence in the study's results and conclusions.

## Abstract

RETRACTION: 
BalliuM.
, 
GuandaliniL.
, 
RomanelliM.N.
, 
D'AmicoM.
 and 
PaolettiF.
, “HDAC‐Inhibitor (S)‐8 Disrupts HDAC6‐PP1 Complex Prompting A375 Melanoma Cell Growth Arrest and Apoptosis,” Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
19, no. 1 (2015): 143–154, 10.1111/jcmm.12345.25376115
PMC4288358

The above article, published online on 06 November 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor‐in‐Chief, Stefan N. Constantinescu; the Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine; and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed upon following an investigation into concerns raised by a third party. The investigation identified duplication involving α‐tubulin bands in Figure 3A and AKT bands in Figure 3D. Furthermore, the GAPDH bands presented in Figure 7C appear to be duplicated in another article published later by two of the same authors. The authors were invited to comment on the concerns and provide supporting data. While the authors cooperated with the investigation and provided some data, the data did not correspond to the published images. Given the nature of the concerns, the editors have lost confidence in the results and conclusions. The authors disagree with the retraction.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** LOC126710533 (tubulin alpha chain-like), AKT1 (AKT serine/threonine kinase 1), GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase)
- **Chemicals:** (S)-8 (PubChem CID 62624)
- **Diseases:** melanoma (MONDO:0005105)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** PPA1 (inorganic pyrophosphatase 1) [NCBI Gene 5464] {aka HEL-S-66p, IOPPP, PP, PP1, SID6-8061}, TUBA1B (tubulin alpha 1b) [NCBI Gene 10376] {aka K-ALPHA-1}, HDAC6 (histone deacetylase 6) [NCBI Gene 10013] {aka CPBHM, HD6, JM21, KDAC6, PPP1R90}, AKT1 (AKT serine/threonine kinase 1) [NCBI Gene 207] {aka AKT, PKB, PKB-ALPHA, PRKBA, RAC, RAC-ALPHA}, GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) [NCBI Gene 2597] {aka G3PD, GAPD, HEL-S-162eP}, HDAC9 (histone deacetylase 9) [NCBI Gene 9734] {aka HD7, HD7b, HD9, HDAC, HDAC7B, HDAC9B}
- **Diseases:** Melanoma (MESH:D008545)
- **Chemicals:** HDAC-Inhibitor (S)-8 (-), (S)-8 (MESH:C039415)
- **Cell lines:** A375 — Homo sapiens (Human), Amelanotic melanoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0132)

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12853314