Figure 6b corrected after duplicated control value in NLRP3 study
Nature Immunology has issued an Author Correction for the article “Type A cholesterol-dependent cytolysins translocate to the trans-Golgi network for NLRP3 inflammasome activation.” The correction is narrow but important: a copy–paste error affected the source data for Fig. 6b, where a single numerical value in a control group had been duplicated eight times in one data column. The amended source data file is now available online, and Fig. 6b has been updated in both the HTML and PDF versions of the paper.
The corrected notice leaves the article’s central subject intact while clarifying the integrity of one figure-level data file. In experimental immunology, even a localized data-handling error can alter how readers interpret a panel, especially when the figure feeds into a mechanistic argument about NLRP3 inflammasome activation. A duplicated control entry does not rewrite the biology, but it does require a precise correction so the published record matches the underlying dataset.
One figure panel can carry a disproportionate share of the reader’s trust.
Source data accuracy matters in mechanistic immunology
The corrected article centers on type A cholesterol-dependent cytolysins and their translocation to the trans-Golgi network as part of the pathway leading to inflammasome activation. That topic sits squarely in modern innate immunity, where cellular trafficking, membrane damage, and danger sensing intersect. Because this field often relies on tightly constructed multi-panel experiments, source data files are not peripheral material; they are part of the evidentiary base supporting the figure and, by extension, the mechanistic model.
Here, the correction is specific. The original published version contained a copy–paste error in the source data for Fig. 6b, in which one control-group numerical value was repeated eight times in a single column. The amended file replaces that flawed input, and the figure itself has been updated accordingly. The correction has also been applied to the HTML and PDF versions, ensuring that the published record, the downloadable source data, and the rendered figure now align.
Such amendments matter in basic and translational immunology because readers often evaluate not just statistical output, but the pattern of values underlying the plot. Repeated numbers in a control column can obscure the spread of the data and weaken confidence in how the experiment was assembled, even if the corrected result remains unchanged. For investigators studying inflammasome signaling, the value of the correction lies in restoring the fidelity of the record, not in expanding the biological claim.
What the notice does and does not change
The correction does not introduce a new dataset, a revised endpoint, or a new interpretation. It addresses a figure construction error and nothing more. The article citation, publication details, and DOI remain the same, and the correction is presented as an amendment to the original September 2025 paper, with the correction notice published on 15 October 2026.
That timeline matters because readers and indexing systems rely on version control. When a correction updates source data and figure presentation, it changes the authoritative version of the article that will be consulted in the future. In practice, that helps preserve reproducibility for laboratories attempting to understand how the study linked cholesterol-dependent cytolysins with intracellular trafficking and inflammasome signaling.
For clinicians, the immediate bedside impact is indirect. This is fundamental immunology rather than a therapeutic trial, but the pathway itself is relevant to inflammatory disease biology. The NLRP3 inflammasome has broad significance because it sits upstream of inflammatory cascades that shape host defense and tissue injury. Studies that map how microbial toxins or host-derived stress signals reach the compartments that trigger this machinery help refine the conceptual framework that later supports drug development, biomarker work, and disease modeling.
Published corrections as part of the scientific record
Corrections like this one are part of how the literature maintains credibility. They do not always signal a flaw in the main conclusion; sometimes they reflect a data transcription or assembly error isolated to a single figure component. Even so, the correction has to be explicit, because the reproducibility of immunology depends on the smallest data structures being traceable back to their origin.
The authors listed on the article are Nanyang Xiao, Airi Kogishi, Lisa Radochonski, Yuchong Lei, and Jueqi Chen, with correspondence to Jueqi Chen. The correction notice also identifies the Department of Microbiology and the Howard Taylor Ricketts Laboratory at the University of Chicago as the affiliations linked to the work. Those details anchor the amendment to a specific publication rather than a broader journal-wide change.
For readers tracing the paper’s mechanistic logic, the practical step is straightforward: use the corrected figure and the amended source data file. In a field where intracellular localization, trafficking compartments, and inflammasome activation are interpreted through dense experimental figures, accuracy at the panel level is not cosmetic. It is the basis for whether the data can be inspected, reused, and cited with confidence.