Salidroside alleviates high-glucose-induced injury in retinal pigment epithelial cell line ARPE-19 by down-regulation of miR-138
Authors: Cheng Qian
Guangming Wan
Yi Dong
Panshi Yan
Taiying Lu
Shenzhi Liang
Journal: RNA biology (2019)
Discipline: BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Keywords: AMPK; Diabetic retinopathy; PI3K/AKT; Salidroside; microRNA-138.
Affiliations: Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University , Zhengzhou , Henan , China.

Abstract:  Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a complication of diabetes leading cause of blindness in adults. Salidroside (SAL) is a main ingredient from Rhodiola rosea L., has been reported to have a beneficial protection on vascular function. However, whether SAL is a suitable treatment for DR remains unreported. The study aimed to investigate the effect of SAL on high-glucose (HG)-induced injury in ARPE-19 cells. ARPE-19 cells were managed with diverse concentrations of glucose, and constructed a model of HG-induced ARPE-19 cells injury. Then, SAL was employed to stimulate ARPE-19 cells, and cell viability, apoptosis, apoptosis-associated factors, the pro-inflammatory cytokines, and ROS levels were determined. The correlation between miR-138 and SIRT1 was predicated by bioinformatics software of TargetScan (http://www.targetscan.org/) and Dual luciferase reporter assay. MiR-138 mimic, inhibitor and NCs were transfected into ARPE-19 cells, and the impacts of miR-138 on HG-induced cell injury were investigated. PI3K/AKT and AMPK signalling pathways were examined to explore the underlying mechanism. The results disclosed that HG inhibited cell viability, promoted apoptosis, up-regulated IL-6 and TNF-Œ±, as well as increased ROS level in ARPE-19 cells. But, SAL obviously alleviated HG-induced ARPE-19 cells injury. Repressed miR-138 was triggered by SAL, and SIRT1 was predicated as a direct target of miR-138. Overexpressed miR-138 declined the protective effect of SAL on HG-injured ARPE-19 cells. Besides, SAL activated PI3K/AKT and AMPK pathways by adjusting miR-138. In conclusions, SAL flattened HG-induced injury in ARPE-19 cells by repression of miR-138 and activating PI3K/AKT and AMPK pathways. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Figures 1, 2 and 5 of this paper contain some curious inserts presented as scatter-plots of cells from FACS quantifying cell apoptosis. Each panel contains a hairball of points in Q3, a cigar in Q4, and regular stipplings of points in Q1 and Q2. They are very similar to other  FACS images from the same workshop. In this case very little has been done to customise the separate panels and maintain the fiction that they emerged from independent experiments. I marked some of the similarities between Q3 hairballs before boredom set in.  , 
 This paper belongs to a set of over 400 papers (as per February 2020) that share very similar Western blots with tadpole-like shaped bands, the same background pattern, and striking similarities in title structures, paper layout, bar graph design, and - in a subset - flow cytometry panels. Despite these similarities, these papers are authored by researchers from different departments and institutes, with almost no overlap in authors. The list of these papers is available here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 1KXqTAyl4j-jVorFPMD2XRpr76LcIKJ0CVyIvRj0exYQ edit?usp=sharing A more detailed description of this set of papers, suspected to all be generated by a common source, a paper mill , can be found here: * https: forbetterscience.com 2020 01 24 the-full-service-paper-mill-and-its-chinese-customers (January 2020) * https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 02 21 the-tadpole-paper-mill (February 2020) The same paper mill has been described in these papers: * Jana Christopher - Systematic fabrication of scientific images revealed - FEBS Letters (2018) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13201 * Jennifer A Byrne and Jana Christopher - Digital magic, or the dark arts of the 21st centuryu2014how can journals and peer reviewers detect manuscripts and publications from paper mills? - FEBS Letters (2020) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13747 , 
 Retracted [April 2021] . ---------------------------- We, the editors and publishers of the journal *RNA Biology*, have retracted the following article: Cheng Qian, Shenzhi Liang, Guangming Wan, Yi Dong, Taiying Lu Panshi Yan (2019) Salidroside alleviates high-glucose-induced injury in retinal pigment epithelial cell line ARPE-19 by down-regulation of miR-138, RNA Biology, 16:10, 1461-1470, DOI: 10.1080 15476286.2019.1637696 Since publication, concerns have been raised about the integrity of the data in the article. When approached for an explanation, the authors have been unable to verify their original data. The authors have agreed to retract the article. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as u2018Retractedu2019. ,