Deregulation of the miR-16-KRAS axis promotes colorectal cancer
Authors: Qian Fan
Chaoying You
Yanqing Liu
Xi Chen
Jialu Li
Hongwei Liang
Xin Yue
Wu Sun
Yi Ba
Haiyang Zhang
Jing Li
Journal: Scientific Reports (2016)
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Keywords: KRAS; colorectal cancer; miR-16; post-transcriptional mechanism; bioinformatic analyses
Affiliations: Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Huanhuxi Road, Tiyuanbei, Tianjin, 300060, China., State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, NJU Advanced Institute for Life Sciences (NAILS), Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210046, China., Department of Gastroenterology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, 24 Fukang Road, Tianjin, 300192, China.

Abstract:  KRAS plays a significant role in the etiology and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the mechanism underlying this process has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we found that the KRAS protein levels were higher in CRC tissues than in the normal adjacent tissues, whereas its mRNA levels varied irregularly, suggesting that a post-transcriptional mechanism is involved in the regulation of KRAS. Then, we performed bioinformatic analyses to search for miRNAs that potentially target KRAS. We predicted and experimentally validated that miR-16 directly recognizes the 3'-UTR of the KRAS transcript and regulates KRAS expression. Furthermore, the in vitro results showed that the repression of KRAS by miR-16 suppressed the proliferation and invasion and induced the apoptosis of CRC cells, and the in vivo results revealed that miR-16 exerted a tumor-suppressive effect by negatively regulating KRAS in xenograft mice. Taken together, our findings provide evidence supporting the role of miR-16 as a tumor suppressor in CRC by targeting KRAS. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Some images in Figure 4D appear to overlap. *** ![file] , 
 #1 Firstly, thank you for pointing out the mistake in our article. In the attachment, there are the representative images for the cell invasion experiments of pre-miR-control group, pre-miR-16 group and rescue groups. But we made a mistake because the images are so similar and because of our careless. We took three images for the same invasion cells of pre-miR-control group on 21 September 2015, then when we drew the Figure 4, we put the two of images for the invasion cell of pre-miR-control group to the place which should show the images for the pre-miR-control + control vector group and the pre-miR-16+KRAS vector group respectively. We drew a new Figure 1 which just replaced the two wrong images. We used the images for the -miR-control+control vector group and the pre-miR-16+KRAS vector group took on 21 September 2015 to replace the two wrong images respectively in Figure 4D. We are so sorry for this mistake and we have sent email to the editors of Scientific Reports to apply for the author correction. The attachment sent to the editors of Scientific Reports including: 1.The ZIP archive for  Representative images of invasion cell assay . 2. Information for representative images !![file] 3. Information for the folder  Representative images of invasion cell assay ![file] 4. Information for the ZIP archive  Representative images of invasion cell assay ![file] 5. Figure 1![file] But the attachment of the ZIP archive for  Representative images of invasion cell assay is too big to upload here. Remark: I took care of my babies at home and didn t work after I graduated, so I don t have the institutional email address to register in the Pubpeer. Chaoyiny You April20 2021 , 
 #2 Did the authors get a response from the journal? , 
 #3 Dear Actinopolyspora Biskrensis, We have gotten responses from Scientific Reports Production, and they said the correction was being published. Best Regards, Chaoying You September27 2021 , 
 #3 Dear Actinopolyspora Biskrensis, We have gotten responses from the Journal of Scientific Reports, and our Author Correction has been published. The Author Correction can be found here: https: www.nature.com articles s41598-021-99119-w Best Regards, Chaoying You October5 2021 ,