© BioMed Central Ltd, Part of Springer Nature 2018.Concerns have been raised about this article [1] relating to the appropriateness of the use of the shRNA (5'-GCG GAG GGT TTG AAA GAA TAT CTC GAG ATA TTC TTT CAA ACC CTC CGC TTT TTT -3') as a non-targeting control and similarities in text and formatting with other published articles. This is currently under investigation and appropriate editorial action will be taken once the investigation is concluded. The authors agree.