Frontiers formally retracted a Translational Pharmacology bone research study after a raw data image integrity audit found extensive figure problems. The paper examined rubidium chloride’s effects on bone cellular processes and reported mechanistic links to JNK/p38-mediated NF-κB activation and osteoclastogenesis versus osteoblastogenesis. The retraction underscores the increasing role of journal-led research integrity auditing and highlights how data reproducibility issues can directly unwind mechanistic drug-discovery narratives.