Retracted : Deletion of long noncoding RNA EFNA3 aggravates hypoxia‐induced injury in PC‐12 cells by upregulation of miR‐101a
Authors: Peiling Huang
Jianing Xi
Weijun Gong
Shuyan Qie
Journal: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry (2019)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: ROCK2; Wnt/β-catenin and JAK/STAT pathways; cerebral ischemia; long noncoding RNA EFNA3; microRNA-101a.
Affiliations: Department of Neurological Rehabilitation Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University Beijing China, Department of Rehabilitation Therapy Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University Beijing China, Beijing Rehabilitation Medicine Academy, Capital Medical University Beijing China

Abstract:  Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be involved in several neurological pathogenesis conditions including cerebral ischemia. In the current study, the functions of lncRNA EFNA3 on hypoxia-injured rat adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC-12) cells and the underlying molecular mechanism were studied. The expression of lncRNA EFNA3 was silenced by short hairpin RNA transfection, after which the cells were subjected with hypoxia. Cell viability, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were, respectively, determined by trypan blue staining, Transwell assay, annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI) double-staining, and Western blot analysis. The cross regulation between lncRNA EFNA3 and miR-101a, as well as between miR-101a and Rho associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase 2 (ROCK2) were detected by performing quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, RNA pull-down, RNA immunoprecipitation, luciferase activity assay, and Western blot analysis. Studies showed that lncRNA EFNA3 was highly expressed in response to hypoxia. Deletion of lncRNA EFNA3 significantly aggravated hypoxia-induced injury in PC-12 cells, as the impairment of cell viability, migration, and invasion, and the inducement of apoptosis. LncRNA EFNA3 worked as a sponging molecule for miR-101a and miR-101a suppression-protected PC-12 cells against hypoxia-induced injury even when lncRNA EFNA3 was silenced. ROCK2 was a target gene of miR-101a. ROCK2 overexpression exhibited neuroprotective activities. Besides, ROCK2 overexpression activated Wnt/β-catenin pathway whereas it deactivated JAK/STAT pathway upon hypoxia. Our study suggests that deletion of lncRNA EFNA3 aggravates hypoxia-induced injury in PC-12 cells by upregulating miR-101a, which further targets ROCK2. 

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 , 
 Retracted [9 June 2021] . -------------------------------------------------- The above article, published online on 20 August 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. ,