MiR-299-3p inhibits proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cell via targeting TCF4
Authors: J-D Zhao
H Yang
Y Yu
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: miR-299-3p; cervical cancer; TCF4; tumor suppressor; qRT-PCR
Affiliations: Perinatal Care Division, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Many studies have demonstrated that the abnormal microRNAs (miRNAs) expression plays crucial roles in the development of human cancers including cervical cancer (CC). However, the expression and the underlying mechanism of miR-299-3p in CC remain unclear. Materials and methods: In this study, the quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect miR-299-3p expression level in CC cell lines. The cell proliferation assay, colony formation assay, and transwell invasion assay were conducted to investigate the biological functions of miR-299-3p. Followingly, the Luciferase activity reporter and the Western blot assays were conducted to validate the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) as a direct target of miR-299-3p. Results: MiR-299-3p expression level was reduced in CC cell lines compared with the normal cell line. The overexpression of miR-299-3p inhibits CC cell growth and invasion. Furthermore, TCF4 was validated as a direct target of miR-299-3p. In addition, TCF4 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-299-3p on CC cell behaviors. Conclusions: Taken together, our results illustrated that miR-299-3p acts as a tumor suppressor to inhibit CC cell behaviors by targeting TCF4. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 This paper is part of a set of three papers that all have colony formation assays that appear to look remarkably similar. The papers are all from different institutions, with no overlapping authors. Those papers are: * Zehao Huang, Shengxiao Zhang, Jia Wang, Hehua Sun, Yue Zhang, Xiao Li, Xiang Song - miR-373 inhibits nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell migration and invasion by targeting MARCH5 - Int J Clin Exp Pathol (2019) - PMID: 31934093 * Kun Qin, Ge Tian, Guangzhong Chen, Dong Zhou, Kai Tang - miR-647 inhibits glioma cell proliferation, colony formation, and invasion by regulating HOXA9 - The Journal of Gene Medicine (2020) - DOI: 10.1002 jgm.3153 * Y. Yu, J.-D. Zhao, H. Yang - MiR-299-3p inhibits proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cell via targeting TCF4 - European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences (2019) - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201907_18296 (this paper) Here is a comparison of Figures 2C from all these three papers (same as above for this paper, but with extra markings). Boxes of the same color highlight colony assays that look unexpectedly similar. ![file] , 
 Panels in Figures 4C from all these three papers also appear to share unexpected similarities. ![file] , 
 Western blot panels in this paper appear to share some background patterns with each other. The bands look different but backgrounds appear to look very similar. Rounded boxes of the same color show background areas that look similar to each other. ![file] ,