Long noncoding RNA TUG1 promotes progression via upregulating DGCR8 in prostate cancer
Authors: C Wei
H-Q Guo
X-L Yang
Y-B Zhang
Journal: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: lncRNA TUG1; prostate cancer; tumorigenesis; qRT-PCR; disease-free survival rate
Affiliations: Department of Urology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Recent researches have proved that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in tumorigenesis. In this research, lncRNA TUG1 was explored to identify the role it played in the development of prostate cancer. Patients and methods: Quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to detect TUG1 expression in both prostate cancer tissue samples and cells. Moreover, the associations between expression level of TUG1 and patients' disease-free survival rate were studied respectively. Next, wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted. Furthermore, qRT-PCR and Western blot assay were used to explore the underlying mechanism. Results: In comparison with TUG1 expression in adjacent tissues, TUG1 expression level was significantly higher in prostate cancer samples, which was closely associated with patients' disease-free survival time. After TUG1 was downregulated, cell migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells were inhibited in vitro. Moreover, after TUG1 was upregulated, cell migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells were enhanced in vitro. In addition, after knockdown of TUG1, the mRNA and protein expression of DGCR8 was downregulated, while after overexpression of TUG1, the mRNA and protein expression of DGCR8 was upregulated. Furthermore, it was found that DGCR8 expression positively correlated to TUG1 expression in prostate cancer tissues. Conclusions: Results above showed that TUG1 could enhance cell migration and invasion of prostate cancer by upregulating DGCR8, which may offer a potential therapeutic target in prostate 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. , 
 Article has been withdrawn. The retraction notice is not linked to the article, but can be found here: https: www.europeanreview.org article 22201 It reads:  *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 TUG1 promotes progression via upregulating DGCR8 in prostate cancer, by X.-L. Yang, C. Wei, Y.-B. Zhang, H.-Q. Guo, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (6): 2391-2398u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201903_17385u2013PMID: 30964164u201d has been withdrawn.* *The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.* ,