Study by prominent Brigham scientists retracted due to compromised data
An internal investigation has found compromised data in a stem cell study led by prominent Brigham and Womens Hospital researchers, and the paper has been retracted. The authors claimed they had found evidence that the heart can regenerate at a rapid rate, contrary to years of belief that heart muscle cells cells turnover very slowly.
The paper, published in 2012 in the journal Circulation, was retracted Tuesday by the journals publisher, the American Heart Association.
This retraction is highly significant. In my 30 years in cardiovascular science I cannot recall a paper of similar prominence being retracted from Circulation, Dr. Charles Murry, co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington, wrote in an e-mail. This appears to settle the controversy about the rate of cell replacement in the human heart, i.e. it turns over every 60 years, not every 6 months.
The retraction comes in the wake of a major scandal that has unfolded over the last few months as a Japanese research institution found evidence of fabrication in a major stem cell paper led by a different Brigham scientist.
The journals retraction notice, first reported by the blog Retraction Watch, does not specify which researchers are at fault, but the paper involved several high-profile scientists including Dr. Piero Anversa, a cardiologist whose research has often raised questions from other scientists, and Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, chief of medicine at the Brigham.
According to the retraction notice, an ongoing institutional review by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens Hospital has determined that the data are sufficiently compromised that a retraction is warranted.
A Brigham and Womens Hospital spokeswoman said a statement was forthcoming. Anversa and Loscalzo did not immediately reply to e-mails.
Dr. Jonas Frisn, a professor of stem cell research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, published a study in 2009 showing a very low rate of renewal of human heart muscle cellsaround 1 percent of cells turned over per year. That low rate was replicated in other laboratories.
But in 2012, Anversas laboratory used the same techniquemeasuring an isotope of carbon found in the nucleus of cellsto detect a much higher rate of heart muscle cell renewal, as much as 23 percent per year. The laboratory also found that the rate of renewal increased with age, contrary to what other scientists expected and found. Frisen said he and his colleagues read the paper extremely carefully, but could not make sense of it.
It wasnt possible from what they had written to understand exactly what they had done and how they had treated the data, Frisen said. He began corresponding with the authors, asking detailed questions about their methodology. He said there were some minor mistakes that appeared accidental, such as using the wrong units, and some things that may have stemmed from their unfamiliarity with using the technique. For example, he said the Brigham team didnt appear to have controlled for contamination.
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Study by prominent Brigham scientists retracted due to compromised data