Long noncoding RNA DARS-AS1 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-532-3p in ovarian cancer
Authors: Y-L Li
X-Y Fu
Y-G Meng
W-S Fan
K Huang
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Ovarian cancer; long noncoding RNAs; lncRNA DARS-AS1; proliferation; metastasis
Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hanchuan People's Hospital, Hanchuan, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Ovarian cancer is one of the most ordinary malignant tumors. Recently, the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in tumor progression has caught attention of numerous researchers. In this research, lncRNA DARS-AS1 was studied to identify how it functions in the development of ovarian cancer. Patients and methods: DARS-AS1 expression was detected by Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in ovarian cancer tissue samples. Moreover, functional experiments were conducted to detect the effect of DARS-AS1 on the proliferation and metastasis of ovarian cancer. In addition, the underlying mechanism was explored through luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. Results: In this study, DARS-AS1 expression was remarkably higher in ovarian cancer tissues compared with that in adjacent ones. Cell proliferation was inhibited after DARS-AS1 silenced in ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, cell migration and invasion were also inhibited after DARS-AS1 silenced in ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, results of luciferase assays and RIP assay showed that microRNA-532-3p (miR-532-3p) was a direct target of DARS-AS1 in ovarian cancer. The expression of miR-532-3p was upregulated after DARS-AS1 was knocked down. Conclusions: Our study suggests that DARS-AS1 enhances cell proliferation and metastasis via sponging miR-532-3p in ovarian cancer. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 This paper is one of a set of 121 papers that all contain images from the same library of about 100 photos and plots. This is unexpected, because each paper has different authors and different affiliations, with little to no overlap, and describes different cancer types and molecules. It would be very hard to explain how authors from different labs would all obtain the same photo. Therefore, the papers might have all be derived from the same source, such as a paper mill that sells ready-to-be-published papers. This  Stock Photo paper set has been described in more detail on my blog post, https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 07 05 the-stock-photo-paper-mill and in a Wall Street Journal article by Eva Xiao (currently behind a paywall): https: www.wsj.com articles chinese-research-papers-raise-doubts-fueling-global-questions-about-scientific-integrity-11593939600 The vast majority (113 121) of the papers were published in the same journal, European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences (ERMPS). A link to the full set of papers can be found here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 172RWS18w1lTNJ9Nnj80fuXXTqTm4fGkoK0sdYyvKE3g edit?usp=sharing All papers have been reported to the journal editors on July 2, 2020. , 
 An additional concern: Figure 3 shows two sets of panels that not only both match the 100 photos in the Stock Photo library, but that also appear to overlap with each other. * Red boxes: two panels, both matching the  TW06 - Catch and the Map photo, appear to show an overlap * Blue boxes: two panels, both matching the  TW14 - Necklace photo, appear to show an overlap ![file] , 
 The publishers have wished the paper into the cornfield: https: www.europeanreview.org article 21862 Since this article has been suspected of research misconduct and the corresponding authors did not respond to our request to prove originality of data and figures, u201cLong noncoding RNA DARS-AS1 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-532-3p in ovarian cancer, by K. Huang, W.-S. Fan, X.-Y. Fu, Y.-L. Li, Y.-G. Meng, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (6): 2353-2359. DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201903_17379. PMID: 30964159u201d has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. Google Scholar records seven citations for this now-vanished document. ,