Circular RNA_LARP4 inhibits the progression of non-small-cell lung cancer by regulating the expression of SMAD7
Authors: B Wang
J-Q Shi
X Cheng
C-L Jia
X-Q Cao
Y-X Wang
Z-D Liu
B-J Luo
T Wen
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Circular RNAs; circ LARP4; non-small-cell lung cancer; tumorigenesis; Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction
Affiliations: Intensive Care Unit, and Thoracic Surgery, Surgery Laboratory; Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University; Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, .

Abstract:  Objective: Researchers have uncovered the importance of circular RNAs (circ) in malignant tumors. Circ LARP4 has been found to serve as a tumor suppressor gene in gastric cancer. However, the exact function of circ LARP4 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to uncover the role of circ LARP4 in the tumorigenesis of NSCLC. Patients and methods: Expression level of circ LARP4 in NSCLC tissues was detected through Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR). Subsequently, the association between expression and patients' prognosis was analyzed. Circ LARP4 lentivirus was constructed and transfected into NSCLC cells. The effect of circ LARP4 on NSCLC cell migration and invasion was detected by function assays. Furthermore, Western blot was performed to analyze the expression of predicted protein of circ LARP4. Results: Compared with adjacent tissues, circ LARP4 was lowly expressed in NSCLC tissues. Meanwhile, expression of circ LARP4 was associated with the prognosis of NSCLC patients. Downregulated circ LARP4 was found in NSCLC cell lines as well. The migration and invasion abilities of NSCLC cells were significantly inhibited via overexpression of circ LARP4. SMAD7, the predicted protein of circ LARP4, increased remarkably via overexpression of circ LARP4. Conclusions: Circ LARP4 could suppress the metastasis of NSCLC by up-regulating SMAD7. 

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 , 
 This paper states that it uses the following cell lines  Human oral cancer cell lines BcaCD885 and Tca8113, and normal oral epithelial cell line HOES were obtained from the American Type Tissue Culture Collection (ATCC). This is problematic for two reasons: 1) BcaCD885 and Tca8113 have never been distributed by ATCC. And while ATCC distributed normal oral epithelial cells, none are called HOES. 2) Tca8113 is not an oral cancer cell line but an HeLa contaminated cell line. So this is an additional reason to consider this paper as dubious. See the relevant [Cellosaurus entry] , 
 http: www.most.gov.cn zxgz kycxjs kycxgzdt 202201 t20220127_179206.html Google Translated Date: January 27, 2022 14:44 Source: Ministry of Science and Technology u3000u30006. The paper  Long non-coding RNA PICART1 suppresses proliferation and promotes apoptosis in lung cancer cells by inhibiting JAK2 STAT3 signaling by Gao Yufang of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University as the corresponding author and Zhao Jingming as the first author. After investigation, the paper was found to be fraudulent and improperly signed. Gao Yufang was unaware that the paper was signed. Zhao Jingming will be dealt with as follows: demerit for 1 year, cancel the application or application for science and technology projects (special projects, funds, etc.), science and technology awards, and qualifications for science and technology talent titles for 5 years, cancel as a nominee or recommender, nominee or recommender, evaluation expert Wait for the qualification for 5 years, record it in the file of scientific research integrity and dishonesty, give the scientific research integrity admonition talk, cancel the participation in this year s first evaluation and excellent evaluation, and the annual evaluation shall not be determined as qualified or above. u3000u3000(Notification link: https: kjc.qdu.edu.cn info 1023 3176.htm) ,