Retraction : HCFU inhibits cervical cancer cells growth and metastasis by inactivating Wnt/β‐catenin pathway
Authors: Shanshan Wang
Hua Liu
Huazhen Han
Ping Liu
Shuying Ma
Journal: Journal of cellular biochemistry (2017)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: 1-hexylcarbamoyl-5-fluorouracil (HCFU); Wnt/β-catenin pathway; cervical cancer; metastasis; proliferation.
Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jining No. 1 People's Hospital, Jining 272011, China.

Abstract:  Background: 1-hexylcarbamoyl-5-fluorouracil (HCFU), also known as carmofur, is an effective chemotherapeutic agent applied to several cancers. This study was aimed to explore the functional effects of HCFU on cervical cancer cells and tried to uncover its possible mechanism. Methods: Two immortalized cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa and Caski) and primary cervical cancer cells prepared from two cervical cancer patients were used in this study. Cell viability, apoptosis, colony formation, migration, invasion, and the expressions of cell growth- and metastasis-associated factors were respectively assessed following 0-1 µg/mL of HCFU treatment for 0-48 h. Besides, the expressions of main factors in Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway were detected following HCFU administration. Results: As a result, HCFU significantly suppressed HeLa and Caski cells viability but promoted apoptosis, both in time- and dose-dependent manner (P &lt; 0.05 or P &lt; 0.01). Besides, HCFU reduced these two cell lines colony formation capacity, migration and invasion (P &lt; 0.05, P &lt; 0.01 or P &lt; 0.001). In primary cervical cancer cells, cell viability was reduced (P &lt; 0.05 or P &lt; 0.01), the expressions of Cyclin D1, MMP2 and MMP9 were down-regulated, while the expression of E-Cadherin was up-regulated after HCFU treatment. Further, HCFU down-regulated the expressions of intranuclear β-catenin, c-Myc, and TCF-1, but has no impacts on intracytoplasmic β-catenin expression in HeLa cells and primary cervical cancer cells. Conclusion: This study demonstrated an anti-growth and anti-metastasis role of HCFU in cervical cancer cells. HCFU suppressed cervical cancer possibly via blocking Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Retraction: HCFU inhibits cervical cancer cells growth and metastasis by inactivating Wnt u03b2u2010catenin pathway First published: 12 December 2017 https: doi.org 10.1002 jcb.26570 Abstract The above article, from Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, u201cHCFU inhibits cervical cancer cells growth and metastasis by inactivating Wnt u03b2u2010catenin pathwayu201d by Ping Liu, Shuying Ma, Hua Liu, Huazhen Han, and Shanshan Wang published online on 12 December 2017 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been withdrawn by agreement between the journal Editor in Chief Gary S. Stein and John Wiley and Sons, Inc. The retraction has been agreed because the authors are not responding to requests to finalize their article for publication in the journal as the Version of Record. , 
 #1 Sounds like the paper had to be retracted because the authors could not be contacted with requests for the final paperwork; rather than (say) the fact that the background texture is the same in every band of the putative Western Blots. Here, Figs 4A, 4B, with increased-contrast version below. ![file] ![file] , 
 This article contains several Western immunoblots where the backgrounds show similar patterns. Examples are shown for Figure 1, 2, 4 and 5 (images are contrast enhanced to illustrate the problem). There is no information that this article is retracted in PubMed, but here it is marked as  retracted ... ![file] ![file] , 
 #3 Apologies to Indigofera Tanganyikensis; I did not realise that Comment #3 was in the pipeline of PP moderation when I left comment #2. , 
 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 ,