Geng-style Academic Fraud Detection Report: Butyrate Suppresses Glucose Metabolism of Colorectal Cancer Cells via GPR109a-AKT Signaling Pathway and Enhances Chemotherapy

Academic fraud report · Geng Detector

Summary

Verdict: Highly suspicious. The 2021 paper in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences (DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.634874) by Hong-Wei Geng et al. shows multiple red flags suggesting careless assembly and possible data fabrication. Key issues: (1) stray numeric tokens '274' and '275' appear in the Western blot lysis buffer recipe, strongly indicating unedited copy-paste from a numbered source document; (2) the Methods state metabolite analysis was performed by capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CE-TOFMS), while the Figure 3 legend states LC-MS/MS — two fundamentally different platforms; (3) quantitative readouts (metabolite reductions of 60%, 70%, 58%, 60%; apoptosis values of 9%, 13%, 22%, 2.5%) are reported as suspiciously round numbers for n=3 replicates. Limitations: pixel-level Western blot image analysis was not possible because only PDF text was provided. Confidence is moderate-to-high for the textual contradictions and moderate for the copy-paste residue; the integer-percentage pattern is suggestive but not conclusive on its own.

Verdict

🟠 Highly suspicious. The paper shows multiple internal contradictions and strong indicators of hasty copy-paste assembly. No definitive proof of figure manipulation is available from the supplied material, but the textual inconsistencies alone warrant formal investigation by the journal.

Key findings

Copy-paste residue in Materials and Methods: The lysis buffer recipe contains the standalone numerals "274" (after "0.5% deoxycholic acid,") and "275" (after "5μg/ml"), strongly suggesting unedited text copied from a numbered source (e.g., a PDF with line numbers or a numbered reference list).
Inconsistent analytical platform for metabolite measurement: Methods describe "capillary electrophoresis (CE)-connected ESI-TOFMS" and "CE-TOFMS (Human Metabolome Technologies)," while the Figure 3 legend states the metabolites were "measured by liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer/mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS)." These are distinct platforms with different separation and ionization principles.
Suspiciously round quantitative values in Results: Lactate reduced by 60%; R5P, Acetyl-CoA, and NADPH reduced by 70%, 58%, and 60%, respectively; apoptosis reported as 9%, 13%, 22%, 2.5%, and 9% across conditions. For n=3 biological replicates, such round numbers are atypical of raw experimental means.
Image-level analysis not possible: Figures 1C, 2A/E, 3D, and 4A (Western blots) and flow cytometry plots could not be examined at the pixel level because only the PDF text was supplied. Given the textual issues, retrieval and inspection of original uncompressed images is strongly recommended.

Evidence highlights

Page 2, Western Blotting section: "...0.5% deoxycholic acid, 274 and 0.1% SDS) supplemented with protease and phosphatase inhibitors (1 mM PMSF, 5μg/ml 275 leupeptin..." — stray numerals with no chemical meaning.
Page 2, Methods: "analyzed using a capillary electrophoresis (CE)-connected ESI-TOFMS system" and "analyzed using CE-TOFMS (Human Metabolome Technologies)."
Page 5, Figure 3 legend: "measured by liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer/mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS)."
Page 5: "reduced by 60%" (Lactate); "by 70, 58, and 60%, respectively" (R5P, Acetyl-CoA, NADPH).
Page 7: apoptosis values of 9%, 13%, 22%, 2.5%, and 9% reported under various conditions.
DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.634874.

Notes

Funding sources disclosed in the report (NSFC No. 31900069 and Project No. BB13003) should be cross-checked for compliance with reported experimental claims.
The recommended next actions are: (a) request original, uncompressed Western blot and flow cytometry files from the corresponding author; (b) raise the CE-TOFMS vs. LC-MS/MS discrepancy and the "274/275" copy-paste anomaly on PubPeer; (c) consider submitting a formal concern to the editorial office of Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences requesting re-analysis of the metabolomics dataset.
This assessment is based solely on the text extracted from the PDF. Pixel-level image forensics and statistical re-analysis of the underlying numerical data were not performed and remain pending access to supplementary files and raw data.