NF-κB signaling pathway inhibition suppresses hippocampal neuronal apoptosis and cognitive impairment via RCAN1 in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage
Authors: Ren Liao
Jian-Ping Zhang
Ru-Rong Wang
Quan-Yun Wang
Peng-Cheng Zheng
Miao Yang
Hua Fang
Hua-Feng Li
Fang-Xiang Zhang
Journal: Cell Cycle (2019)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: NF-κB signaling pathway; RCAN1; cognitive impairment; hypoxic-ischemic brain damage; neuronal apoptosis.
Affiliations: Department of Anesthesiology, Guizhou Provincial People‘s Hospital, Guiyang, P. R. China, Department of Anesthesiology, Guizhou University People’s Hospital, , Guiyang, P. R. China, Department of Anesthesiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P. R. China, Department of Anesthesiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P. R. China, Guizhou University Research Center for Analysis of Drugs and Metabolites, Guizhou University, Chengdu, P. R. China

Abstract:  NF-κB is a core transcription factor, the activation of which can lead to hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD), while RCAN1 plays a protective role in HIBD. However, the relationship between NF-κB and RCAN1 in HIBD remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of NF-κB signaling pathway in hippocampal neuron apoptosis and cognitive impairment of neonatal rats with HIBD in relation to RCAN1. Initially, microarray analysis was used to determine the differentially expressed genes related to HIBD. After the establishment of HIBD rat models, gain- or loss-of-function assay was performed to explore the functional role of NF-κB signaling pathway in HIBD. Then, the learning and memory ability of rats was evaluated. Expression of RCAN1, NF-κB signaling pathway-related genes and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), S-100β and acetylcholine (Ach) level, and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity were determined with neuron apoptosis detected to further explore the function of NF-κB signaling pathway. RCAN1 could influence the development of HIBD. In the HIBD model, the expression of RCAN1 and NF-κB-related genes increased, and NF-κB p65 showed a significant nuclear shift. By activation of NF-κB or overexpression of RCAN1, the number of neuronal apoptosis, S-100β protein level, and AchE level increased significantly, Ach activity decreased significantly, and GFAP positive cells increased. In addition, after the activation of NF-κB or overexpression of RCAN1, the learning and memory ability of HIBD rats was inhibited. All the results show that activation of NF-κB signaling pathway promotes RCAN1 expression, thus increasing neuronal apoptosis and aggravating cognitive impairment in HIBD rats. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
  We would like to thank our researchers for their hard work and reviewers for their valuable advice. Whom are the authors thanking here? Themselves? Some other researchers who did hard work but are not credited or named? The same sentence turns up elsewhere as an Acknowledgement section in a large number of problematic papers. , 
 Retracted [17 March 2022] . ----------------- We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal Cell Cycle, have retracted the following article: Hua Fang, Hua-Feng Li, Miao Yang, Ren Liao, Ru-Rong Wang, Quan-Yun Wang, Peng-Cheng Zheng, Fang-Xiang Zhang, and Jian-Ping Zhang. NF-u03baB signaling pathway inhibition suppresses hippocampal neuronal apoptosis and cognitive impairment via RCAN1 in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Cell Cycle. 2019;18(9):1001-1018. doi: 10.1080 15384101.2019.1608128. Since publication, concerns have been raised about the integrity of the data in the article. When approached for an explanation, the authors have been unable to address the concerns raised and have not been able to provide their original data. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. The corresponding author listed in this publication has been informed. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as u2018Retractedu2019. , 
 #1 [Dimensions] provides a helpful plot of the popularity across time of this particular Acknowledgement. ![file] It was possibly not the curiously-worded Acknowledgement that convinced the editors to retract this paper (despite its association with the Contractor papermill), and more the problematic Western Blots, in a kind of high-contrast ink-blot style (associated with the same papermill). ![file] ,