Retracted : microRNA‚Ä?03 promotes proliferation, differentiation, and migration of osteoblasts by upregulation of Msh homeobox 2
Authors: Haochuan Liu
Yi Li
Bing Chen
Journal: Journal of Cellular Physiology (2019)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: Msh homeobox 2 (Msx2); fracture healing; microRNA (miR)-203; mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/activator of transcription (STAT); osteoblast.
Affiliations: Department of Orthopedics, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China., Department of Anesthesiology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China., Department of Radiology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.

Abstract:  Despite the improvements in fracture healing, about 10% of patients undergo abnormal healing. As a tumor suppressor, upregulation of microRNA (miR)-203 has been observed in osteogenic differentiation. Herein, we aimed to explore the functional role of miR-203 in osteoblasts as well as the underlying mechanisms. The expression of miR-203 in MC3T3-E1 cells that underwent osteogenic differentiation was determined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). The effects of aberrantly expressed miR-203 on cell viability, migration, and expressions of proteins associated with proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation were measured by using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, Transwell cell migration assay, and western blot/qRT-PCR, respectively. The possible downstream factor of miR-203 was subsequently studied. Finally, involvements of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/activator of transcription (STAT) pathways were assessed by western blot. We found that the miR-203 level was increased in osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells with increasing duration time (28th day, p &lt; 0.001). After cell transfection, we interestingly found that miR-203 overexpression could increase cell viability (p &lt; 0.05), promote proliferation, migration (p &lt; 0.05), and osteogenic differentiation, and upregulate Msh homeobox 2 (Msx2) expression. Furthermore, Msx2 knockdown was proved to abrogate the effects of miR-203 overexpression on MC3T3-E1 cells. Finally, phosphorylated levels of key kinases in the MAPK/STAT pathways were increased by miR-203 overexpression via upregulating Msx2 expression. In conclusion, miR-203 overexpression promoted proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells through upregulating Msx2 along with activation of the MAPK/STAT pathways. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 The Western blots and other figures in this paper have an interesting layout that appears to be shared with many other papers, as discussed in a January 2020 post on Leonid Schneider s blog: https: forbetterscience.com 2020 01 24 the-full-service-paper-mill-and-its-chinese-customers The list of these papers is available here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 1KXqTAyl4j-jVorFPMD2XRpr76LcIKJ0CVyIvRj0exYQ edit?usp=sharing In almost all papers, Western blot panels within the same figure, and across figures and papers, appear to share the same background, while the bands are regularly spaced, all have similar rounded edges without the usual smudges and specks, and with some bands showing a recognizable  jumping sardine shape. Also in almost all papers, bar graphs show a characteristic layout with bars in solid shades of grey, and the left-most bar in black, as well as double-edged error bars. Many papers have  cell viability and  apoptotic cells graphs. To illustrate the recognizable layout of the graphs in this paper, here is Figure 3.  , 
 Retracted [4 June 2021] . --------------------------- The above article, published online on 10 March 2019 in Wiley Online Library , has been retracted by agreement between the journal s Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr. Gregg Fields, and Wiley Periodicals LLC. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation based on allegations raised by a third party. Several flaws and inconsistencies between results presented and experimental methods described were found, the editors consider the conclusions of this article to be invalid. The authors collaborated in the investigation initially, but were not available for a final confirmation of the retraction. ,