LncRNA AK024094 aggravates the progression of breast cancer through regulating miRNA-181a
Authors: W-J Li
T-Z Zheng
Y-T Li
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: lncRNA AK024094; breast cancer; progression; targeted therapy; prognostic potential
Affiliations: Department of Breast Surgery, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of long noncoding ribonucleic acids (lncRNAs) AK024094 in regulating the progression of breast cancer (BCa) and the potential mechanism. Our findings might help to provide a theoretical basis for the targeted therapy of BCa. Patients and methods: The relative expression level of lncRNA AK024094 in BCa and adjacent normal tissues was determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The prognostic potential of AK024094 in BCa was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Meanwhile, AK024094 level in BCa cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR as well. The regulatory effects of AK024094 on the proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 cells were evaluated by functional assays. The Dual-Luciferase Reporter Gene Assay was applied to verify the binding between AK024094 and miRNA-181a. In addition, the rescue experiments were conducted to uncover the role of AK024094/miRNA-181a in the progression of BCa. Results: AK024094 was significantly upregulated in BCa tissues and cell lines. Compared with BCa patients with low expression of AK024094, the tumor staging of those with a high level of AK024094 was remarkably worse. Meanwhile, the rate of distant metastasis was significantly higher, and the overall survival was shorter in BCa patients with high expression of AK024094. The knockdown of AK024094 significantly attenuated the proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 cells. Subsequently, miRNA-181a was predicted and verified as the target of AK024094. A negative correlation was identified between the expression levels of AK024094 and miRNA-181a in BCa. Furthermore, the knockdown of miRNA-181a partially reversed the effect of AK024094 on cellular behaviors of BCa cells. Conclusions: AK024094 aggravates the malignant progression of BCa, and is closely related to tumor staging, distant metastasis, and poor prognosis of BCa. In addition, AK024094 accelerates the proliferation and metastasis of BCa cells by targeting miRNA-181a. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 This paper is part of a group of papers with a characteristic Kaplan Meier curve with a comb-like appearance. These plots all have a drop to 0 % survival at 75 months, a.k.a  Hoya s Law . Within the Comb papers, there is a subgroup of at least 9 papers that have very similar negative correlation plots. * X Shi et al., ERMPS (2019), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201912_19778 - https: pubpeer.com publications 3133C4267A6FBF81D00B0AF9FB9F2C * CY Yang et al., ERMPS (2019), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201908_18736 - https: pubpeer.com publications 04A58FD5AFBB311D1A2938B0612E1E * HG Zhang et al., ERMPS (2019), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201903_17239 - https: pubpeer.com publications D916E15502393940A4F3151E1D300C * JY Chen et al, ERMPS (2020), DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202001_20040 - https: pubpeer.com publications 9266A736E004B8D7C32F6811161C1C * SS Li et al., ERMPS (2020) - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202002_20163 - https: pubpeer.com publications 5CDE9845135F510EC218243CD501F9 * TZ Zheng et al., ERMPS (2020) - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202002_20369 - https: pubpeer.com publications AF0159381E48D7937D78C948FAB379 * JB Ma et al., ERMPS (2019) - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201902_17108 - https: pubpeer.com publications 2EB1B6A17E9877F2D7F8FE4E117446 * HW Sun et al., ERMPS (2019)- DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201910_19299 - https: pubpeer.com publications 937B0CAD1A01B66E854F4A6CCDA56B * K Jia et al., ERMPS (2020) - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202003_20508 - https: pubpeer.com publications 11550517E8A0503AFDC49D460BAD30 And here is a collage of the nine correlation plots, where I have circled some similar groupings of points. ![file] , 
 30% of the breast cancer patients were male. I am surprised that the authors did not discuss this phenomenon. ![file] , 
 Fig 1D.  The Kaplan-Meier curve revealed the overall survival of BCa patients with high and low expression of AK024094. ![file] ,