Circ_0005273 induces the aggravation of pancreatic cancer by targeting KLF12
Authors: Y-S Hou
X Li
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: circ_0005273; KLF12; pancreatic cancer; metastasis; prognosis
Affiliations: Department of GI Medicine, the Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential influences of circ_0005273 and its downstream target KLF12 on the progression of pancreatic cancer. Patients and methods: Relative levels of circ_0005273 and KLF12 in paired pancreatic cancer tissues and normal tissues were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Then, the differences in clinical indicators and prognosis (overall survival and progression-free survival) between pancreatic cancer patients expressing high and low levels of circ_0005273 were compared. After knockdown of circ_0005273 in AsPC-1 and CFPAC-1 cells, viability and migratory ability were assessed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell and wound healing assays. The regulatory effect of circ_0005273 on KLF12 was determined through Western blotting assay. Finally, the interaction between circ_0005273 and KLF12 was tested by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results: It was found that circ_0005273 was upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues than that in normal tissues. Besides, pancreatic cancer patients expressing a high level of circ_0005273 had higher incidence rates of lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis, as well as poor prognosis. Knockdown of circ_0005273 weakened the proliferative and migratory abilities of AsPC-1 and CFPAC-1 cells. KLF12 was the target gene binding to circ_0005273, showing a negative expression correlation between each other. Moreover, the protein level of KLF12 was downregulated by knockdown of circ_0005273. KLF12 was able to abolish the regulatory effects of circ_0005273 on the phenotypes of pancreatic cancer cells. Conclusions: Circ_0005273 drives proliferative and migratory abilities of pancreatic cancer cells via activating the KLF12, and it is able to predict lymphatic metastasis, distant metastasis and prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 This paper appears to be part of a large set of papers ( 200 as of today and growing) that share a very similar layout. Subsets of these papers appear to share similar Kaplan-Meier survival plots, correlation plots, flow cytometry panels, and overlapping photos of wound-healing, transwell assays, etc. Yet, there is little to no overlap between the authors of these papers or their departments and affiliated institutions. I have been calling this set the  Comb papers, because the Kaplan-Meier plots have a comb-like appearance. For PubPeer user Hoya Camphorifolia, the survival plots look like Lego blocks. Many of these survival plots show a sudden drop of survival at 75 months. Another characteristic is the lack of percentages in their Tables I in columns promising percentages, and the spread of patients into roughly equally-sized group, no matter which parameter is chosen. The very similar layout and overlapping photos suggest these papers might have all been created by the same entity, perhaps a paper mill. Here is Figure 1D from this paper, showing the Comb- (or Lego-)like survival plots stopping at 75 months. ![file] And here is Table I with its undelivered percentages in the High Low columns. ![file] ,