Corrigendum: Adjudin senescence study corrects Fig. 1B images and removes p16 data
A corrigendum to a 2018 study on adjudin and cellular senescence reports that two Fig. 1B image panels overlapped and that the antibody used was specific for p16-ARC (ARPC5), not p16-INK4a; the authors removed all p16 data, and the editor approved this. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
Two Fig. 1B panels showing MEF cells with SA-β-gal staining after 0 µM and 40 µM adjudin with hydroxyurea overlapped, with the right panel turned 90°. [1]
The antibody used (ab51243) is specific for p16-ARC (ARPC5), not the intended p16-INK4a. [1]
The Editor approved omitting the p16 data, and all references to p16 were to be eliminated. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Corrigendum (correction notice) to a published research article
- Population / context
- Mouse embryo fibroblast (MEF) cells in the corrected experiments
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Original publication
- September 25, 2026
Overlapping MEF images in Fig. 1B
A reader alerted the authors that, in Fig. 1B on p. 3254, the panels on the far left and far right of the bottom row overlapped. These panels showed mouse embryo fibroblast (MEF) cells with senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining after treatment with 0 µM and 40 µM adjudin, respectively, in the presence of hydroxyurea. The right-hand panel had been turned 90°, so data intended to come from differently performed experiments apparently came from the same original source. After re-examining their data, the authors said Fig. 1B had been assembled incorrectly. The revised Fig. 1 now shows all Fig. 1B panels from one of the repeated sets of experiments.
Supporting source [1]
Antibody targeted p16-ARC, not p16-INK4a
The reader also noted that one antibody appeared inappropriately selected. The antibody (cat. no. ab51243) the authors reported using is specific for the protein p16-ARC (also called ARPC5), not for the apoptosis-associated protein p16-INK4a as intended. The authors said they had not retained the original receipt and could not prove whether the antibody had been chosen legitimately for the affected experiments. They noted that increased p16-INK4a abundance was used as a senescence indicator together with p21 abundance and the fraction of cells with a SA-β-gal signal. They considered that removing the p16 data would not compromise the study's conclusions.
Supporting source [1]
Editor approved removal of all p16 references
After considering the authors' appeal, the Editor approved their request that the p16 data be omitted. All references to 'p16' in the Abstract and in the Materials and methods, Results and Discussion sections should therefore be considered eliminated. The revised Fig. 1 no longer includes p16 data, and a new version of Fig. 3 also excludes them. The corrigendum states that these figure revisions and the omission of the p16 data do not affect the paper's overall conclusions. The original article appeared in International Journal of Molecular Medicine 42: 3522-3529, 2018.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
This is an abstract of a corrigendum; the full text was not reviewed. It describes corrections to figures and the removal of p16 data, not new experiments. The corrigendum states the conclusions are unaffected but gives no further data on the remaining results.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Geng K, Fu N, Yang X, Xia W. · europepmc.org · September 25, 2026