Retracted : Knockdown of lncRNA MEG3 inhibits viability, migration, and invasion and promotes apoptosis by sponging miR‐127 in osteosarcoma cell
Authors: Daliang Kong
Yang Wang
Journal: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry (2018)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: MEG3; ZEB1; miR-127; osteosarcoma.
Affiliations: Department of Orthopaedics, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.

Abstract:  Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the most common bone malignancies and occurs almost exclusively in children and adolescents. This study aimed to explore the role of lncRNA maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) in OS cells growth and metastasis, and to uncover the possible underlying mechanism. In this study, the expressions of MEG3 in five OS cell lines (MG63, OS-732, SaOS, G292, and 143B) and in a human osteoblast cell line hFOB1.19 were measured by qRT-PCR analysis. The expressions of MEG3, miR-127, and ZEB1 in OS-732 cells were overexpressed or suppressed by transfection. Cell viability, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were then assessed. The results showed that MEG3 was highly expressed in OS cell lines when compared to hFOB1.19 cell. MEG3 silence significantly suppressed OS-732 cells growth and metastasis, as evidenced by the decreases in cell viability, migration, invasion, and increase in apoptotic cell rate. MEG3 acted as an endogenous sponge by binding to miR-127. More interestingly, MEG3 silence could not suppress OS-732 cells growth and metastasis when miR-127 was knocked down. ZEB1 was a target gene of miR-127, and miR-127 overexpression-induced impairments in cell growth and metastasis were attenuated when ZEB1 was overexpressed. Moreover,miR-127 suppression activated JNK and Wnt signaling pathways, while these activations were recovered by ZEB1 silence. To conclude, our findings suggest that lncRNA MEG3 promoted OS cells growth and metastasis in vitro through sponging miR-127. This study provides the evidence that MEG3 may be a potential therapeutic target for OS. 

Retracted: Yes

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 , 
 June 4, 2021 Retraction:  Knockdown of lncRNA MEG3 inhibits viability, migration, and invasion and promotes apoptosis by sponging miR-127 in osteosarcoma cell, by Yang Wang, Daliang Kong, J Cell Biochem. 2018; 669-679: The above article, published online on 21 June 2017 in Wiley Online Library has been retracted by agreement between the journal s Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr. Christian Behl, and Wiley Periodicals LLC. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation based on allegations raised by a third party. Several flaws and inconsistencies between results presented and experimental methods described were found, the editors consider the conclusions of this article to be invalid. The authors collaborated in the investigation initially, but were not available for a final confirmation of the retraction. ,