Circ_0005276 aggravates the development of epithelial ovarian cancer by targeting ADAM9
Authors: X-Y Yu
W-J Liu
X-L Qi
C-C Sun
Z-H Liu
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: circ_0005276; clinical features; epithelial ovarian cancer; migratory potential; ADAM9
Affiliations: Department of Gynecology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Our purpose was to assess the relationship between circ_0005276 and clinical features of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), and to illustrate the regulatory effect of circ_0005276 on migratory potential in EOC cells. Patients and methods: EOC tissues and adjacent normal ones were collected from 49 EOC patients. Relative levels of circ_0005276 and ADAM9 in EOC tissues were determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The relationship between circ_0005276 and clinical features of EOC patients was analyzed. Moreover, migratory potentials of CAOV3 and SKOV3 cells affected by circ_0005276 were examined by transwell and wound healing assay. Regulatory effects of circ_0005276/ADAM9 feedback loop on the development of EOC were finally detected by Luciferase assay and rescue experiments. Results: It was found that circ_0005276 was upregulated in EOC tissues and its level was positively linked to rates of lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis in EOC patients. Survival analysis showed worse OS and DFS in EOC patients expressing a high level of circ_0005276 than those with a low level. Besides, knockdown of circ_0005276 attenuated migratory potentials in EOC cells. ADAM9 was verified to be the target gene binding circ_0005276, and its level was positively regulated by circ_0005276. Notably, circ_0005276 aggravated the development of EOC by targeting ADAM9. Conclusions: Circ_0005276 is highly expressed in EOC tissues, and its level is positively linked to metastasis. Serving as an unfavorable gene in the prognosis of EOC, circ_0005276 aggravates the development of EOC by upregulating ADAM9. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 In this study, 49 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) were enrolled at the Department of Gynecology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital. The gender distributions of these patients is rather unexpected. More than half of the EOC patients are reported to be male, as shown in Table I. The title of the table also appears to list the wrong cancer type.  ESCC is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. ![file] , 
 Figure 2B. * Red boxes: Two panels representing different cell lines appear to show an overlap. ![file] , 
 Fig 1.  C, D, Kaplan-Meier curves show overall survival (C) and disease-free survival (D) in EOC patients with high or low level of circ_0005276. ![file] I am intrigued by the 70-74-months period, when about 62% of the low-circ_0005276 half had **survived** (C), while 80% of the same group were **surviving disease-free** (D). UPDATE: Similar problems, and similar K-M curves, in [Zhu et al (2020)] . ![] , 
 An additional finding for Table 1. The table description mentions  ESCC patients.  ESCC stands for  Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma , while this paper is supposedly about EOC -  epithelial ovarian cancer patients. , 
 Retracted [June 2022] . -------------------------- The article u201cCirc_0005276 aggravates the development of epithelial ovarian cancer by targeting ADAM9, by Z.-H. Liu, W.-J. Liu, X.-Y. Yu, X.-L. Qi, C.-C. Sunu, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (20): 10375-10382u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202010_23387u2013PMID: 33155193u201d has been retracted by the authors due to inaccuracies related to the misuse of Table I. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. ,