The interaction between circular RNA hsa_circ_0000285 and miR-599 in thyroid cancer
Authors: D Yang
S Cheng
Y Yang
Y Jin
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Circular RNAs; Thyroid cancer; hsa_circ_0000285; Metastasis; RT-qPCR
Affiliations: Department of Vascular/Thyroid Surgery, the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: The vital role of circular RNAs in malignant tumors has been well-studied. Thyroid cancer (TC) is one of the most ordinary malignant tumors. Regulatory effect of hsa_circ_0000285 on metastatic TC was explored in this research. Patients and methods: Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to detect hsa_circ_0000285 expression in TC tissues. Knockdown and overexpression of Hsa_circ_0000285 models were established in TC cells. Moreover, wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted to identify the role of hsa_circ_0000285 in regulating cellular phenotypes of TC cells. Furthermore, the interaction between hsa_circ_0000285 and miR-599 in TC cells was uncovered by the Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: Hsa_circ_0000285 level was significantly higher in TC samples than that in adjacent samples. Migration and invasion of TC cells were reduced after silence of hsa_circ_0000285, while their metastatic abilities were enhanced by overexpression of hsa_circ_0000285. Moreover, RT-qPCR results revealed that miR-599 was downregulated via overexpression of hsa_circ_0000285, while miR-599 was upregulated via knockdown of hsa_circ_0000285. Furthermore, the Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay showed that miR-599 was directly targeted by hsa_circ_0000285 in TC. Conclusions: Hsa_circ_0000285 could enhance cell metastasis of TC by targeting miR-599. Hsa_circ_0000285/miR-599 may be utilized as potential therapeutic targets in TC. 

Retracted: Yes

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. , 
 Some time in July, the publishers wished the paper into the cornfield and issued an undated Non-Retraction notice: https: www.europeanreview.org article 21870 Since this article has been suspected of research misconduct and the corresponding authors did not respond to our request to prove originality of data and figures, u201cThe interaction between circular RNA hsa_circ_0000285 and miR-599 in thyroid cancer, by D. Yang, Y. Jin, S. Cheng, Y. Yang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (9): 4882-4889u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202005_21177u2013PMID: 32432751u201d has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. ,