HOXB7 promotes proliferation and metastasis of glioma by regulating the Wnt/Œ≤-catenin pathway
Authors: F Yuan
X-Y Zhao
B-A You
X-Y Zhang
X-Y Huo
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: HOXB7; gliomas; proliferation; metastasis; regulatory mechanism
Affiliations: Heart Centre, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao), Qingdao, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression level of HOXB7 in gliomas and its effect on the proliferation and metastasis of gliomas, as well as its regulatory mechanism of promoting the malignant progression of glioma. Patients and methods: In this study, 32 pairs of glioma tumor tissue specimens and adjacent ones were collected and the HOXB7 expression levels in these tissues were detected using quantitative Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR), and the interplay between HOXB7 level and clinical parameters of glioma was analyzed. QRT-PCR was used to further verify the expression of HOXB7 in glioma cell lines. The sh-HOXB7 knockdown model was constructed in glioma cell lines, and the influence of HOXB7 on the biological function of glioma cells was examined by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell assay. Meanwhile, Western blot was applied to explore whether HOXB7 can promote the progression of glioma through the Wnt/ Œ≤-catenin pathway. Results: QRT-PCR results showed that the level of HOXB7 in glioma tumor tissue specimens was conspicuously higher than that in the adjacent normal ones. The occurrence of lymph node or distant metastasis was higher and the prognosis was worse in patients with higher HOXB7 expression. In addition, compared with the sh-NC group, cell proliferation, invasiveness and migration ability of the sh-HOXB7 group decreased conspicuously. Subsequently, the Western blot result revealed that the expression of key proteins in the Wnt/Œ≤-catenin signaling pathway was conspicuously reduced in the sh-HOXB7 group, thereby promoting the malignant progression of glioma. Conclusions: HOXB7 may promote the invasiveness and migration of glioma cells via regulating the Wnt/Œ≤-catenin signaling pathway, and is conspicuously associated with lymph node or distant metastasis and poor prognosis. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
  Tumor and paracancerous tissues from **32 patients** who underwent glioma radical resection were collected ... According to **32 pairs** of glioma tumor tissues and paracancerous tissues, the relationship between HOXB7 expression and age, sex, pathological stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis of glioma patients was analyzed... we used RT-PCR to detect the expression of HOXB7 in **32 glioma tissues** and its adjacent paracancerous tissues, and found that HOXB7 expression in tumor tissues was conspicuously higher than that in the adjacent tissues and was positively correlated with lymph node and distant metastasis .  Fig 1E,F.  26 32. , 
 #1 Figs 1E,F are surprisingly similar to Fig 1D from [Zou et al (2020)] , with 40 cases rather than 26.  , 
 #1 *[right]* Fig 1 from [Hou et al (2018)] . *[left]* Fig 1 from [Fang et al (2020)] .  , 
 Retracted [April 2021] .  The article u201cHOXB7 promotes proliferation and metastasis of glioma by regulating the Wnt u03b2-catenin pathway, by X.-Y. Huo, X.-Y. Zhang, F. Yuan, X.-Y. Zhao, B.-A. You, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (6): 2476-2485u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201903_17395u2013PMID: 30964174u201d has been withdrawn from the authors who found some errors in the research data.  The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. ,