LncRNA GACAT3 promotes gastric cancer progression by negatively regulating miR-497 expression
Authors: Min Rao
Yonggang Zhu
Li Feng
Yunxin Zhang
Journal: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (2018)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: GACAT3; Invasion; Proliferation; lncRNA; miR-497.
Affiliations: Department of Radiotherapy, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, PR China., Department of gastroenterology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, PR China., Department of gastroenterology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, PR China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  Accumulating evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) are involved in tumorigenesis and tumor development. LncRNA GACAT3 (GACAT3) has been reported to be upregulated in gastric cancer (GC); however, the biological function and underlying mechanisms of GACAT3 remain largely unknown. Here, we found that GACAT3 showed a higher expression in GC tissues and cell lines. Increased GACAT3 level was significantly associated with a shorter overall survival of patients with GC. Functionally, we demonstrated that knockdown of GACAT3 significantly inhibited proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion of GC cells in vitro. Moreover, underexpression of GACAT3 decreased tumorigenesis in vivo. Mechanistically, we proved that GACAT3 directly binds to microRNA-497 (miR-497), and GACAT3 expression was inversely correlated with miR-497 expression. Taken together, we demonstrate that GACAT3 may function as an oncogene that promotes GC progression, and may serve as a potential target for GC therapy in the future. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 *[below]* Fig 2C.  Colony formation assay revealed that oncogenic survival was significantly decreased in sh-GACAT3 cells compared with that in sh-NC cells. *[above]* Fig 5C from [Li et al (2017)] .  colony formation ... detected in SCC9 cells transfected with miR-NC or and miR-152 mimic with without c-MET overexpression plasmid . ![file] Could the authors comment on the similarities, more apparent after a 90-deg rotation? , 
 More fun with rotations: ![file] , 
 Fig 4B.  Photographs of tumor tissues. ![file] The plural  photographs , and the absent of any consistent direction of lighting shadows, suggests that the image is a photomosaic of separately-photographed tumors. Was this the case? , 
 Fig 3B.  Transwell invasion assay showed that downregulation of GACAT3 significantly decreased invasive ability of SGC-7901 cells. ![file] Fig 2E from [Li et al (2017)] . Cell invasion  determined in TPC-1 cells after transfection with miR-212 mimic or miR-NC . ![] I have many questions. , 
 *[left]* Fig 3D from  MicroRNA-139-5p Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Invasion by Targeting RHO-Associated Coiled-Coil-Containing Protein Kinase 2 in Ovarian Cancer ([Wang et al 2018] ). *[right[* **Fig 4D**. ![file] , 
 #4 It gets better! - *[above]* Figs 3B, and 2E from  Function of miR-212 as a tumor suppressor in thyroid cancer by targeting SIRT1 ([Li et al 2017] ) **[retracted]**. - *[below]* Fig 3E F from  miR-215 promotes malignant progression of gastric cancer by targeting RUNX1 ([Li et al 2016] ). ![file] ,