Retraction: A supramolecular nanotube used as a water-degradable template for the production of protein nanotubes with high thermal/chemical stabilities

Abstract

Retraction of ‘A supramolecular nanotube used as a water-degradable template for the production of protein nanotubes with high thermal/chemical stabilities’ by Naohiro Kameta and Wuxiao Ding, Mater. Chem. Front., 2022, 6, 3174–3178, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2QM00661H.

---

We the named authors hereby wholly retract this Materials Chemistry Frontiers article due to the fact that the paper has incorrect electron microscopy images in Fig. 2a and Fig. S4a–c, S10, S12 on the part of the first author, who is affiliated with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

Fig. 2a and Fig. S4a, b, c had incorrect scale bars, which were approximately 1.5, 4.0, 2.1 and 1.4 times longer than the actual, respectively.

Fig. S10 should have displayed TEM images of the protein nanoparticles without a negative staining reagent, phosphotungstate, in which the protein components kept the native structure with enzymatic catalytic activity. However, the first author posted TEM images of the protein nanoparticles with phosphotungstate, in which the protein components were denatured by the acidity of phosphotungstate. The incorrect images in Fig. S10 are also found to include large errors with the scale bars, which were approximately 20 times longer than the actual.

Fig. S12 should have displayed the TEM image of the protein nanotubes. However, the first author posted a TEM image of irrelevant nanotubes that were developed by the authors in other studies.

The authors respectfully retract this paper, because these events were determined to amount to scientific misconduct and the retraction of this paper was recommended by AIST. AIST verified that the first author was responsible for the misconduct and the other co-author was not involved.

Signed: Naohiro Kameta, Wuxiao Ding

Date: 4th Oct 2024

Retraction endorsed by Wenjun Liu, Executive Editor, Materials Chemistry Frontiers

---