Circ_0001982 accelerates the progression of colorectal cancer via sponging microRNA-144
Authors: R Hao
C-J Wang
Q-Y Yang
Q Deng
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: circ_0001982; colorectal cancer; expression pattern; biological function; qRT-PCR
Affiliations: Department of Colorectal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: The aim of this study was to uncover the expression pattern and biological function of circ_0001982 in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Patients and methods: Relative expression level of circ_0001982 in 66 paired CRC tissues and adjacent normal tissues was detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The association between circ_0001982 level and clinical indexes of CRC patients was assessed. The effect of circ_0001982 on cellular behaviors of HT29 and HCT-116 cells was evaluated in vitro. Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay was conducted to verify the binding relation between circ_0001982 and microRNA-144. Finally, rescue experiments were performed to assess the role of the circ_0001982/microRNA-144 axis in mediating the progression of CRC. Results: Circ_0001982 was significantly up-regulated in CRC tissues when compared with adjacent normal ones. CRC patients with a high expression level of circ_0001982 showed a significantly higher rate of distant metastasis and worse survival. Knockdown of circ_0001982 remarkably attenuated the proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities of HCT-116 cells. However, opposite results were observed after the overexpression of circ_0001982 in HT29 cells. MicroRNA-144 was verified as a target gene of circ_0001982, which could be negatively regulated by circ_0001982. Furthermore, microRNA-144 was capable of reversing the regulatory effect of circ_0001982 on the proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities of CRC cells. Conclusions: Up-regulated circ_0001982 was closely related to distant metastasis and poor prognosis of CRC. In addition, circ_0001982 attenuated the progression of CRC by negatively regulating microRNA-144. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Figure 2D. * Cyan boxes: One of the HT29 panels appear to show an overlap with a panel in Figure 2D of X Shi et al., ERMPS (2019), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201912_19778 - https: pubpeer.com publications 3133C4267A6FBF81D00B0AF9FB9F2C. Note that it represents a different cell line and treatment. Even more remarkable, it is shown 90 degrees rotated, so the overlapping region have a different orientation to the scratch.  , 
 Fig 1D:  Kaplan-Meier curves revealed the overall survival of CRC patients with high and low expression of circ_0001982. These K-M plots seemingly constructed of Lego, in which one subgroup are all dead by 75 months, is one of the recurring features of a papermill tabulated here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 1_762PbYYTCJhek5PdBuiDuN1q48UDgMa-rT6gi_jA8c edit?usp=sharing Another recurring feature is a Table 1, promising to convert the numbers within two halfgroups into percentages, but not delivering.  , 
 This paper appears to be part of a set of papers (n=175 as of today and growing) that share a very similar layout. Subsets of these papers appear to share similar Kaplan-Meier survival plots, correlation plots, and overlapping photos of wound-healing, transwell assays, etc. Yet, there is little to no overlap between the authors of these papers or their departments and affiliated institutions. The very similar layout and overlapping photos suggest these papers might have all been created by the same entity, perhaps a paper mill. I have been calling this set the  Comb papers, because the Kaplan-Meier plots have a comb-like appearance. For PubPeer user Hoya Camphorifolia, the survival plots look like Lego blocks. Many of these survival plots show a sudden drop of survival at 75 months. Here is the Kaplan-Meier plot of this paper, Figure 1D.  , 
 Here is a subset of four papers from the Comb set that all appear to show overlapping transwell photos: * Zhen Zeng et al., Am J Transl Res (2019), PMID: 31396353 - https: pubpeer.com publications AA0E480CA9F49590BE399B212CC580 * Q Deng et al. ERMPS (2020), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202002_20352 - https: pubpeer.com publications 6B1CB43EB2391F97D79E03A98EB300 * X Shi et al., ERMPS (2019), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201912_19778 - https: pubpeer.com publications 3133C4267A6FBF81D00B0AF9FB9F2C * JY Chen et al., ERMPS (2020), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202001_20040 - https: pubpeer.com publications 9266A736E004B8D7C32F6811161C1C  , 
 Dear Elisabeth M Bik Thank you very much for your attention and pointing out errors especially of overlapping transwell photos in our paper. We are conducting an in-depth investigation, since some tests were done by third party. We will contact the Journal to deal with it as soon as possible. The authors apologize for the inconvenience caused by these errors , 
 #5 Can you share the name of this third party? Which parts of the paper were **not** the work of the third party? Could you spell out your intended response to  deal with it ? , 
 Retracted [March 2021] . ------------------------------------ The article u201cCirc_0001982 accelerates the progression of colorectal cancer via sponging microRNA-144, by Q. Deng, C.-J. Wang, R. Hao, Q.-Y. Yang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (4): 1755-1762u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202002_20352u2013PMID: 32141543u201d has been withdrawn from the authors due to some inaccuracies about pictures and data (Figures 2C and 2D need to be further confirmed). The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. ,