Long noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-145-3p in human non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Y-B Shi
J Liao
X-Q Fei
X-R Mou
A-R Wang
S-L Liu
J-P Che
Journal: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: lncRNA; HOXA-AS2; non-small cell lung cancer; metastasis; microRNA-145-3p
Affiliations: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yantai Mountain Hospital, Yantai, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Recent studies have proved that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in many diseases, especially malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the exact role of lncRNA HOXA-AS2 (Hoxa cluster antisense RNA 2) in the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and methods: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to detect HOXA-AS2 expression in NSCLC patients. The Wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted to explore the function of HOXA-AS2 on NSCLC metastasis. Furthermore, the mechanism assays were used to explore the interaction between HOXA-AS2 and microRNA-145-3p (miR-145-3p). Results: HOXA-AS2 expression level in NSCLC tissues was significantly higher than adjacent tissues. HOXA-AS2 expression was negatively correlated with disease-free survival of NSCLC patients. Moreover, the functional assays showed that the migration and invasion of NSCLC cells were significantly inhibited after HOXA-AS2 in vitro silence. Furthermore, the luciferase reporter gene assay also revealed that miR-145-3p was a direct target of HOXA-AS2 in NSCLC. Conclusions: Our results indicated that HOXA-AS2 could enhance the migration and invasion abilities of NSCLC by targeting miR-145-3p. Furthermore, these findings suggested that HOXA-AS2 might be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC. 

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. , 
 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, u201cLong noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-145-3p in human non-small cell lung cancer, by Y.-B. Shi, S.-L. Liu, X.-R. Mou, J. Liao, J.-P. Che, X.-Q. Fei, A.-R. Wang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (3): 1243-1249u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202002_20177u2013PMID: 32096154u201d has been withdrawn. [The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause] . ,