Long non‚Äëcoding RNA LINC01006 exhibits oncogenic properties in cervical cancer by functioning as a molecular sponge for microRNA‚Ä?8‚Ä?p and increasing PAK2 expression
Authors: Libin Tian
Xiaoqiong Ming
Feng Han
Jing Yang
Lili Chen
Journal: International Journal of Molecular Medicine (2021)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: molecular sponge; competing endogenous RNA theory; LINC01006; cervical cancer.
Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China., Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuhan Children's Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430015, P.R. China., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, China Resources WISCO General Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei 430080, P.R. China.

Abstract:  As previously reported, long intergenic non‚Äëprotein‚Äëcoding RNA 1006 (LINC01006) plays crucial roles in prostate, pancreatic and gastric cancers. However, whether it plays important roles in cervical cancer remains unclear. The present study thus aimed to determine the precise role of LINC01006 in cervical cancer and elucidate its regulatory mechanisms. The expression of LINC01006 in cervical cancer was examined by reverse transcription‚Äëquantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cell proliferation assay, flow cytometric analysis, Transwell migration and invasion assays, and tumor xenograft model experiments were performed to elucidate the roles of LINC01006 in cervical cancer. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation and rescue experiments were performed for mechanistic analyses. The expression of LINC01006 was found to be upregulated in cervical cancer and to be associated with a poor prognosis. The absence of LINC01006 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells, whereas it promoted cell apoptosis in vitro. The downregulation of LINC01006 impeded tumor growth in vivo. LINC01006 was verified as an endogenous 'sponge' that competed for microRNA‚Ä?8‚Ä?p (miR‚Ä?8‚Ä?p), which resulted in the upregulation of the miR‚Ä?8‚Ä?p target P21‚Äëactivated kinase 2 (PAK2). Rescue experiments revealed that the suppression of miR‚Ä?8‚Ä?p expression or the overexpression of PAK2 abrogated the effects of LINC01006 downregulation on malignant cellular functions in cervical cancer. On the whole, the present study demonstrates that LINC01006 exhibits tumor‚Äëpromoting functions in cervical cancer via the regulation of the miR‚Ä?8‚Ä?p/PAK2 axis. These findings may provide the basis for the identification of LINC01006‚Äëtargeted clinical therapy. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Figs 2F, 4K L. I am curious what the diagonal lines are supposed to indicate in these scatter plots. They are not plausible as best-fit regression lines.  , 
 I also have concerns about the Western Blots and flow-cytometry apoptosis plots which illustrate the paper (here, Fig 6 for example). Very similar WBs and FC plots illustrate [an *oeuvre* of over 130 other papers] (25 of them retracted so far) - presumably from a common source.  In most cases, the corresponding author uses an email address that combines an abbreviated name with a hospital abbreviation (or a department) and a supplier of disposable email accounts - as if to make it easier for someone to keep track of multiple submissions. In this case, obstetrics_yj@126.com. , 
 *[right]* Fig 7B from [Tian et al (2021)] ,  Representative morphologies of the tumor xenografts from the shu2011LINC01006 and shu2011NC groups were obtained at week 4 . *[left]* Fig 6A from [Zhao et al (2020)] ,  Images of excised tumor xenografts . *[middle]* Fig 6A from [Jin et al (2020)] ,  The representative images of tumor xenografts formed from SW480 cells stably expressing sh-C1QTNF1-AS1 or sh-NC .  The decision of three separate research groups to photograph their tumor collections in such a similar style would not be suspicious in itself, but it sits alongside the many other similarities within this corpus of papers. , 
 Dear Hoya Thank you for your comment. The associations among LINC01006, miR-28-5p and PAK2 in cervical cancer tissues were analyzed utilizing Pearson s correlation coefficient. All the three images were plotted applying GraphPad Prism 8. All the lines are best-fit regression lines. Our research explored the expression status and detailed roles of LINC01006 in cervical cancer, and aimed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the functions of LINC01006 in cervical cancer. All the experiments involving in this study are ubiquitous and common; thus, the results and images may present in such a similar style , 
 #4 Dr. Yang: Thank you for your reply. The  regression lines appear manually added and to the eye do not appear associated with the data points. As this is a very recent paper, could you please provide the underlying data for these plots? It would also help identify your lab as the original source of the Western blot images if you were to provide the uncropped original scans. I m sure this information will alleviate the concerns. External sites for larger files can be linked here. Some options: http: figshare.com http: Imgur.com https: www.google.com drive Baidu (u767eu5ea6u7f51u76d8) Tencent (u817eu8bafu5faeu4e91) From the paper:  The datasets used and or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. , 
 Quick check of the f panel seems to show the linear regression line there does match the data. Blue points are digitized, blue line is the linear least squares fit.  , 
 I will check the other two. Apologies to the author! ,