Notoginsenoside R1 up-regulates microRNA-132 to protect human lung fibroblast MRC-5 cells from lipopolysaccharide-caused injury
Authors: Longquan Xiang
Shan Cong
Dong Bai
Xuehua Zhang
Xiutai Yuan
Journal: International immunopharmacology (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: JNK pathway; Lipopolysaccharide; Lung fibroblast cells; MicroRNA-132; NF-κB pathway
Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Jining No.1 People's Hospital, Jining, Shandong 272011, China; Affiliated Jining No.1 People's Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong 272067, China., Department of Pathology, Jining No.1 People's Hospital, Jining, Shandong 272011, China., Department of Pediatrics, Jining No.1 People's Hospital, Jining, Shandong 272011, China., Department of Pediatrics, Jining No.1 People's Hospital, Jining, Shandong 272011, China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  Background: Pneumonia is a common lung disease in children with high fatality rate. Notoginsenoside R1 (NGR1) is the main active component extracted from the roots of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen (Araliaceae). Here, we carefully explored the potential anti-inflammatory and protective effects of NGR1 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung fibroblast MRC-5 cell injury. Methods: Viability and apoptosis of MRC-5 cells after different treatment or transfection were respectively assessed using CCK-8 assay and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The expression levels of microRNA-132 (miR-132), IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in MRC-5 cells were measured using qRT-PCR. MicroRNA transfection was conducted to reduce the expression level of miR-132. Western blotting was used to analyze the protein expression levels of key factors involving in cell proliferation, apoptosis, NF-κB pathway and JNK pathway. Results: LPS treatment caused MRC-5 cell proliferation inhibition, apoptosis and over-production of inflammatory cytokines. NGR1 treatment had no significant effects on MRC-5 cell proliferation, apoptosis and production of inflammatory cytokines, but protected MRC-5 cells from LPS-caused cell proliferation inhibition, apoptosis and over-production of inflammatory cytokines. In addition, NGR1 increased the expression level of miR-132 in MRC-5 cells. Knockdown of miR-132 reversed the protective effects of NGR1 on LPS-treated MRC-5 cells. Furthermore, NGR1 attenuated LPS-activated NF-κB and JNK pathways in MRC-5 cells via up-regulation of miR-132. Conclusion: This research confirmed the protective roles of NGR1 in lung fibroblast cell inflammatory injury. NGR1 protected MRC-5 cells from LPS-caused inflammatory injury through up-regulating miR-132 and then inactivating NF-κB and JNK pathways. 

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 , 
 Expression of Concern, [November 2021] . ------------------------------------------------------- The journal would like to alert readers to the fact that the publication u201cNotoginsenoside R1 up-regulates microRNA-132 to protect human lung fibroblast MRC-5 cells from lipopolysaccharide-caused injuryu201d, which was published in the *International Immunopharmacology* 68 (2019) 137u2013144 https: doi.org 10.1016 j.intimp.2018.12.065 has been included in a general set of allegations of over 400 papers described here: https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 02 21 the-tadpole-paper-mill . Since the authors have not been able to provide raw data of sufficient quality and detail for the journal to independently audit the provenance and validity of the data, we are issuing this Expression of Concern to alert readers with regard to the concerns raised about the reliability of the published images and data. Editor-in-Chief International Immunopharmacology. ,