MicroRNA‑718 serves a tumor‑suppressive role in�non‑small�cell lung cancer by directly targeting CCNB1
Authors: Hongmei Sun
Xiaokai Zhan
Shu Wang
Qiwen Wang
Journal: International Journal of Molecular Medicine (2019)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: MicroRNA-718; tumorigenesis; non-small cell lung cancer; expression profile; biological roles
Affiliations: Department of Radiotherapy, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130041, P.R. China., Department of Thoracic Oncosurgery, Jilin Province Tumor Hospital, Changchun, Jilin 130012, P.R. China.

Abstract:  MicroRNA‑718 (miR‑718) serves crucial roles in tumorigenesis and in the progression of a number of cancers. However, the expression profile, specific functions and mechanisms of action of miR‑718 in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still elusive. The aims of the present study were to quantify the expression of miR‑718, determine its biological roles and elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for its activities in NSCLC cells. Reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR was carried out to assess miR‑718 expression in NSCLC tissue samples and cell lines. The Cell Counting Kit‑8 assay, flow cytometry, cell migration and invasion assays, and a tumor xenograft experiment were performed to evaluate the effects of miR‑718 overexpression on the malignant biological behaviors of NSCLC cells. miR‑718 expression was demonstrated to be significantly decreased in NSCLC tissue samples and cell lines. This reduced expression was significantly associated with tumor, node, metastasis stage, tumor size, lymph node metastasis and poor overall survival among patients with NSCLC. Exogenous miR‑718 expression suppressed NSCLC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in vitro; whereas it hindered tumor growth in vivo. Experiments to elucidate the mechanisms involved revealed that miR‑718 functions by directly targeting cyclin B1 (CCNB1) mRNA. CCNB1 expression was found to be upregulated in NSCLC and inversely correlated with miR‑718 levels. CCNB1 depletion had effects similar to those of miR‑718 overexpression in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, restoration of CCNB1 expression attenuated the tumor‑suppressive effects of miR‑718 overexpression in NSCLC cells. These results indicated that miR‑718 suppressed NSCLC progression in vitro and in vivo by directly targeting CCNB1 mRNA, which may indicate a potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of this fatal disease. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 In 2014, Alan Welch presented his work along with Emma Knight to the AIS where they looked into a method of statistics called Magnitude Based Inference (MBI). MBI has never been published in a statistical or mathematical journal but is heavily used by the sports science field. You can view the presentation here https: maths.anu.edu.au files AIS-slides.pdf . After presenting MBI was supposedly discontinued at the AIS after Alan and Emma showed the method to be fundamentally flawed. In 2018 a 538 article was written about MBI uptake within the sports science field. https: fivethirtyeight.com features how-shoddy-statistics-found-a-home-in-sports-research This article notes to further work was done by Kristin Sainani, showing that MBI has numerous issues. She gives reproducible mathematics to show this. https: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed 29683920 In 2019 there was an article written in The Age talking about how still MBI is being used. https: www.smh.com.au national cold-water-poured-on-scientific-studies-based-on-statistical-cult-20191108-p538t6.html Martin a listed author on this paper, defends the use of MBI for small samples. https: martin-buchheit.net wp-content uploads 2018 07 SPSR36_Buchheit-M_180702_final.pdf Note from Kristins critique she shows mathematically that MBI is deliberately misleading for small samples. Accepting this article in 2020 is not good enough for the sports science world. ,