<p>Silencing of lncRNA LINC00346 Inhibits the Proliferation and Promotes the Apoptosis of Colorectal Cancer Cells Through Inhibiting JAK1/STAT3 Signaling</p>
Authors: Shuang Wen
Dan Li
Journal: Cancer Management and Research (2020)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: JAK1/STAT3; LncRNA LINC00346; apoptosis; colorectal cancer; proliferation.
Affiliations: Department of Pathology, Tianjin Baodi Hospital, Baodi Clinical College of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin City 301800, People's Republic of China., Department of Pathology, The Friendship Hospital of Dalian, Dalian City, Liaoning Province 116000, People's Republic of China.

Abstract:  Purpose: The study was aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of lncRNA LINC00346 on cell proliferation and apoptosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: The expression of lncRNA LINC00346 in CRC tissues and cells was detected by qRT-PCR. LINC00346 was overexpressed and silenced in HT29 and LoVo cells by the transfection of pcDNA-LINC00346 and si-LINC00346. The proliferation of CRC cells was detected by CCK-8 and colony-formation assay. The apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry assay. The expression of apoptosis-associated proteins (Caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax) and JAK1/STAT3 signaling-associated proteins (JAK1, STAT3, p-JAK1, p-STAT3) was detected by Western blot. The tumor growth was detected in mice subcutaneous injected with transfected HT29 cells. Results: LINC00346 was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues and cells. Overexpression of LINC00346 significantly increased the OD450 values, number of colonies, decreased the apoptosis rate, upregulated Bcl-2, and downregulated Caspase-3 and Bax in HT29 and LoVo cells. Knockdown of LINC00346 exerted opposite results of proliferation and apoptosis on HT29 and LoVo cells. The expression levels of JAK1/JAK1 and p-STAT3/STAT3 were upregulated by LINC00346 overexpression. Tofacitinib (JAK1 inhibitor) reversed the tumor-promoting effect of LINC00346 overexpression on CRC cells. In vivo experiments further validated that LINC00346 overexpression promoted the growth of CRC xenograft tumors. Conclusion: LncRNA LINC00346 promoted the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of CRC cells through activating JAK1/STAT3 signaling. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 The colony-formation assays in Figures 2 and 5 unexpectedly share similar features. Some of those are illustrated in the closeup below (colored boxes). The top and bottom image appear to share the same source if flipped vertically. Doing so, however, also reveals portions of these images which differ from each other (colored ellipses). I believe there may be other issues in this manuscript, however I do not feel the need to document those. *** Closeup  ***  ***  , 
 More concerns, this time from Figure 3. ***  , 
 August 2020 u201c The Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Cancer Management and Research wish to retract the published article. We were notified of potential image duplication between cell colony-formation images used in Figure 2C: u25cf HT29 BLANK appears to share elements of the image shown in LoVo BLANK which have been flipped. u25cf HT29 pcDNA-NC appears to share elements of the image shown in LoVo pcDNA-NC which have been flipped. u25cf HT29 pcDNA-LINC00346 appears to share elements of the image shown in LoVo pcDNA-LINC00346 which have been flipped. u25cf HT29 si-NC appears to share elements of the image shown in LoVo si-NC which have been flipped. u25cf HT29 si-LINC00346 appears to share elements of the image shown in LoVo si-LINC00346 which have been flipped. It also appears the HT29 pcDNA-NC and si-NC flow cytometry images shown in Figure 3A also share the same elements.u201d ,