Retraction Note: DCs induce CD40-independent immunoglobulin class switching through BLyS and APRIL

Retraction to: Nature Immunology https://doi.org/10.1038/ni829. Published online 5 August 2002.

The Editor has retracted this article. After publication, concerns were raised regarding some image irregularities within the article and image similarities across publications from the same authors. Specifically:

• Fig. 4a, I_H-C_H transcripts, BlyS from this article and Fig. 6b, germline IH-Ch transcripts, IgD⁺CD38⁺ founder GC B cells in ref. ¹ appear to partially overlap;

• Fig. 4a, V_HDJ_H-C_H transcripts, BlyS +IL-4 from this article and Fig. 6c, mature V_HDJ_H-C_H transcripts, IgD⁺CD38⁺ founder GC B cells in ref. ¹ appear to partially overlap;

• Fig. 4a, I_H-C_H transcripts, APRIL from this article and Fig. 7b, control (top left) in ref. ¹ appear to partially overlap;

• Fig. 6d, Igβ, lanes 3, 9 and 10 appear to present repetitive features within the image;

• Fig. 6d, I_α-1/2-C_μ from this article and Fig. 3b, I_ε-C_μ in ref. ¹ appear to partially overlap;

• Fig. 7c, β-actin, lane 1 from this article and Fig. 3a, lanes 1 and 12 in ref. ¹ appear to be highly similar.

Due to the age of the article, the original data are no longer available. However, upon request, the authors could not provide a satisfactory response to the concerns raised. The Editor no longer has confidence in the results and conclusions of this article.

Paolo Casali and Andrea Cerutti agree with this Retraction.

Mikhail B. Litinskiy, Bernardetta Nardelli, David M. Hilbert, Bing He, Andras Schaffer could not be contacted by the Publisher about this Retraction.