Hsa_circ_0011946 promotes the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma by inducing EMT process
Authors: J-Z Li
X-L Wang
L Ren
H Zhai
Y-H Xia
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Circular RNAs; Hepatocellular carcinoma; hsa_circ_0011946; Biomarkers; Targets
Affiliations: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Recently, the vital role of circular RNAs is discovered in many diseases including tumor progression and metastasis. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most ordinary malignant tumors. The purpose of our study is to detect the potential function of hsa_circ_0011946 in HCC to offer new biomarkers and targets. Patients and methods: The level of hsa_circ_0011946 in HCC tissues and cell lines was monitored by Real Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR). Pearson's Chi-square test was used to determine the association between hsa_circ_0011946 expression and several clinicopathological factors. Then, hsa_circ_0011946 was knocked down in HCC cells to uncover its function in metastasis of HCC. Cell migrated and invaded ability was measured through transwell assay, Matrigel assay and wound healing assay. Western blot assay was performed to analyze the effect of hsa_circ_0011946 on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Results: In this research, the expression level of hsa_circ_0011946 was significantly increased in HCC tissues compared to that in adjacent samples. The expression of hsa_circ_0011946 was also increased in HCC cell lines. The hsa_circ_0011946 expression was associated with lymphatic metastasis in HCC patients. Knockdown of hsa_circ_0011946 led to the inhibition of cell migration and invasion in HCC. In addition, results of further experiments revealed that the EMT-related proteins were regulated via the knockdown of hsa_circ_0011946 in HCC. Conclusions: The hsa_circ_0011946 could enhance cell migration and invasion of HCC by inducing the EMT process. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 This paper is one of a set of 121 papers that all contain images from the same library of about 100 photos and plots. This is unexpected, because each paper has different authors and different affiliations, with little to no overlap, and describes different cancer types and molecules. It would be very hard to explain how authors from different labs would all obtain the same photo. Therefore, the papers might have all be derived from the same source, such as a paper mill that sells ready-to-be-published papers. This  Stock Photo paper set has been described in more detail on my blog post, https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 07 05 the-stock-photo-paper-mill and in a Wall Street Journal article by Eva Xiao (currently behind a paywall): https: www.wsj.com articles chinese-research-papers-raise-doubts-fueling-global-questions-about-scientific-integrity-11593939600 The vast majority (113 121) of the papers were published in the same journal, European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences (ERMPS). A link to the full set of papers can be found here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 172RWS18w1lTNJ9Nnj80fuXXTqTm4fGkoK0sdYyvKE3g edit?usp=sharing All papers have been reported to the journal editors on July 2, 2020. ,