Geniposide suppresses growth, migration and invasion of MKN45 cells by down-regulation of lncRNA HULC
Authors: Yong Ding
Ji Ma
Journal: Experimental and Molecular Pathology (2018)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: Gastric cancer; Geniposide; HULC; JNK; PI3K/AKT.
Affiliations: Department of Endoscopy, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China., School of Basic Medical Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, Henan, China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  Gastric cancer (GC) is a serious disease with high incidence rate and high mortality. Geniposide (GEN) exhibits multiple biological properties including anti-tumor function. However, effect of GEN on GC is not well studied. Hence, the effects of GEN on GC were investigated in our study. HULC expression in GC tissue and GC cell lines (MKN45, SGC-7901, MKN28, AGS) was detected by qRT-PCR. Cell viability, colony formation, migration, invasion and cell apoptosis were examined by CCK-8 assay, survival fraction assay, modified two-chamber migration assay, Millicell Hanging Cell Culture and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2/9 and vimentin was detected by qRT-PCR and western blot, respectively. The expression of PI3K/AKT and JNK was measured by western blot. The expression of HULC was up-regulated both in GC tissue and cell lines (P &lt; .05, P &lt; .01 or P &lt; .001). GEN negatively regulated the expression of HULC in MKN45 cells (P &lt; .05 or P &lt; .01). GEN decreased cell viability (P &lt; .05), colony formation (P &lt; .01), migration (P &lt; .05) and invasion (P &lt; .05) while HULC overexpression led to the opposite results in GEN-treated cells. The expression of phosphatidylinositol 3' -kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (AKT) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) was down-regulated by GEN (all P &lt; .05) while reversed by HULC overexpression. HULC was up-regulated in GC. GEN inhibited MNK45 cell viability, colony formation, migration and invasion while induced cell apoptosis by down-regulation of HULC in MKN45 cells. GEN inactivated PI3K/AKT and JNK signal pathways through down-regulation of HULC. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 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. No date or separate retraction note yet.  This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal. , 
 The subject of [an investigation by Henan University] . H t Google Translate. ------------------ In order to strengthen the construction of scientific research integrity, severely punish violations, and create a good environment for scientific and technological innovation , the relevant paper issues recently investigated and dealt with by this unit are hereby notified as follows. 3. Henan University Huaihe Hospital Ma Ji purchased SCI papers. After investigation, Ding Yong of Henan University School of Basic Medicine is the corresponding author, and Ma Ji is the first author of the paper  Geniposide suppresses growth, migration and invasion of MKN45 cells by down-regulation of lncRNA HULC . Copywriting. Henan University will deal with the relevant responsible persons as follows: Ma Ji was given a warning, scientific research admonished the conversation, ordered to withdraw the manuscript, and the whole school notified the criticism; lowered the employment level of the post (from the attending physician to the resident physician) for 2 years, and postponed the qualification for promotion of the professional title for 2 years; canceled the qualification for undertaking financial support projects, Apply for or apply for science and technology plan projects (special projects, funds, etc.), science and technology awards, qualifications for the title of science and technology talents, qualifications for merit evaluation, nomination or recommenders, nominees or recommenders, and evaluation experts for 3 years. Ding Yong was given an admonishment talk about scientific research integrity, and the whole school reported criticism; the bonus obtained by relying on the papers involved was recovered; Ding Yong s qualification for evaluation and promotion of professional title was cancelled for one year. , 
 Separate retraction note, now, published [9 July 2022] . ---------------------------------------- This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief as there are concerns about the reliability of the results included in the article. The journal was initially contacted by the authors to request the retraction as they reported that results were not reproducible post publication. Given the comments of Dr. Elisabeth Bik regarding this article u201cu2026 the Western blot bands in all 400+ papers are all very regularly spaced and have a smooth appearance in the shape of a dumbbell or tadpole, without any of the usual smudges or stains. All bands are placed on similar looking backgrounds, suggesting they were copy pasted from other sources, or computer generatedu201d, the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data. However, the authors were not able to fulfil this request and therefore the Editor-in-Chief decided to retract the article. ,