Retraction of: “Transcription Factor 4 Regulates the Regeneration of Corneal Endothelial Cells” by Jin Sun Hwang, Chang Ki Yoon, Joon Young Hyon, Tae-Young Chung, and Young Joo Shin (
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020;61(4):21),
https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.61.4.21.
The authors hereby retract the article “Transcription Factor 4 Regulates the Regeneration of Corneal Endothelial Cells” by Jin Sun Hwang, Chang Ki Yoon, Joon Young Hyon, Tae-Young Chung, and Young Joo Shin (
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020;61(4):21),
https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.61.4.21.
After publication of our paper “Transcription Factor 4 Regulates the Regeneration of Corneal Endothelial Cells,” we became aware that the siRNA and CRISPR experiments designed to modulate TCF4, the gene of interest in this study, were actually directed against T-cell-specific transcription factor 7-like 2, correctly referred to as TCF7L2. This confusion was brought on by the earlier use of the gene descriptor, TCF4, for this gene, which has been more recently renamed by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee as TCF7L2. TCF7L2 is known to regulate the Wnt signaling pathway involved in cell growth and differentiation, whereas TCF4 has been linked to Fuchs’ corneal endothelial dystrophy. Although our studies actually investigated TCF7L2, many of our statements in the Introduction and Discussion have attributed functions of TCF4 to TCF7L2 that are incorrect. Furthermore, in our in vivo experiments, siRNA against human TCF7L2 was used to interfere with the rat TCF7L2 corneal endothelial function. Because of these errors, we wish to retract this paper and apologize for the confusion.
We thank readers of the journal for pointing out these issues promptly to the editor so that we were able to act quickly.