Retracted : Long non‐coding RNA reprogramming (lncRNA‐ROR) regulates cell apoptosis and autophagy in chondrocytes
Authors: Huading Lu
Bo Shi
Yuxing Tang
Yongheng Ye
Guoyong Xu
Qing Zhao
Zhongmeng Yang
Journal: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry (2018)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: apoptosis; cell viability; long non-coding RNA ROR; osteoarthritis; p53.
Affiliations: Department of Orthopedics, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.

Abstract:  Long Non-Coding RNA Reprogramming (lncRNA-ROR) plays an important role in regulating various biologic processes, whereas the effect of lncRNA-ROR in osteoarthritis (OA) is little studied. This study aimed to explore lncRNA-ROR expression in articular cartilage and identify the functional mechanism of lncRNA-ROR in OA. OA cartilage tissues were obtained from 15 OA patients, and 6 normal cartilage tissues were set as controls. Chondrocytes were isolated from the collected cartilage tissues. lncRNA-ROR was knockdown in normal cells and overexpressed in OA cells. Cell viability was determined with Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, and apoptosis was measured using flow cytometric analysis. Moreover, proteins and mRNAs involved in this study were also measured using Western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Level of lncRNA-ROR was decreased in OA compared with normal chondrocytes, and overexpression of lncRNA-ROR dramatically promoted cell viability of OA chondrocytes. In addition, knockdown lncRNA-ROR inhibited apoptosis and promoted autophagy of normal chondrocytes. Moreover, lncRNA-ROR inhibited the expression of p53 in both mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, we revealed that lncRNA-ROR regulated apoptosis and autophagy of chondrocytes via HIF1α and p53. The results indicated that lncRNA-ROR played a critical role in the pathogenesis of OA, suggesting that lncRNA-ROR could serve as a new potential therapeutic target for OA. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 ![file] Plagiarising [a comment by Elisabeth Bik] : 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 , 
 Thank you. We are checking the original data and will contact the journal. , 
 Retracted [9 June 2021] . ------------------------------------ The above article, published online on 12 June 2018 in Wiley Online Library , has been retracted by agreement between the the journal s Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr. Christian Behl, 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. ,