Linc-ROR targets FGF2 to regulate HASMC proliferation and migration via sponging miR-195-5p
Authors: He Sun
Fang Peng
Haitao Lv
Jie Zhang
Zheng Ji
Fengchun Jiang
Ao Ru
Hangyuan Guo
Jufang Chi
Tingjuan Ni
Yi Chen
Journal: Gene (2020)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: Atherosclerosis; FGF2; HASMC; Hcy; linc-ROR
Affiliations: Department of Cardiology, Shaoxing People's Hospital (Shaoxing Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine), Shaoxing 312000, Zhejiang Province, China., Department of Clinical Laboratory Center, Shaoxing People's Hospital (Shaoxing Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine), Shaoxing 312000, Zhejiang Province, China., Department of Ultrasonography, The First People's Hospital of Huzhou, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China., Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang Province, China. Electronic address: ., The First Clinical Medical College, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, China., Department of Cardiology, Zhejiang Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine Hospital, Hangzhou 310000, Zhejiang Province, China., Department of Pediatrics, Shaoxing People's Hospital (Shaoxing Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine), Shaoxing 312000, Zhejiang Province, China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  Atherosclerosis is a common cardiovascular disorder and is characterized by damage of endothelial cells, cell inflammation, hyper-proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells and the accumulation of extracellular lipids and fibrous tissues. In this study, we firstly examined the expression level of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA, regulator of reprogramming (linc-ROR) in homocysteine (Hcy)-stimulated human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs), and then looked into the potential molecular signaling axis of linc-ROR in regulating the proliferation and migration of HASMCs. Hcy promoted HASMC proliferation and up-regulated linc-ROR expression. Functional studies showed that linc-ROR exerted enhanced actions on the proliferation and migration of HASMCs. In addition, linc-ROR acted as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-195-5p and repressed the miR-195-5p expression in HASMCs. Linc-ROR was up-regulated the miR-195-3p was down-regulated in the plasma from CAD patients when compared to normal controls. Furthermore, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) was identified as a target of miR-195-5p and was negatively regulated by miR-195-5p in HASMCs. The rescue experiments revealed that linc-ROR-mediated HASMC proliferation and migration may be via regulating miR-195-5p/FGF2 axis. Linc-ROR inhibition blocked the miR-195-5p/FGF2 signaling in Hcy-treated HASMCs, and this effect may also involve in the miR-195-5p/FGF2 axis. To summarize, the data of the present study identified the up-regulation of linc-ROR in Hcy-stimulated HASMCs, and further mechanistic functional studies revealed that linc-ROR promoted HASMC proliferation and migration via regulating miR-195-5p/FGF2 axis. The present study provided the novel actions of linc-ROR in regulating HASMC proliferation and migration, which may be related to the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. 

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 , 
 Retraction, November 14, 2020: https: www.sciencedirect.com science article pii S0378111920308295 The Retraction Notice reads:  This article has been retracted by the authors, who have taken this decision after being contacted by Gene after serious concerns about the authenticity of the work were raised in an article published on the Science Integrity Digest blog [1]. The authors admit that the first author (Zheng Ji) wrote and submitted the manuscript based on the data provided by a third-party organization. Except for the first author, none of the other authors actually participated in the work. When the authenticity of the work was questioned by Gene the first author communicated with the third-party organization which was unable to provide adequate assurances about the origin or validity of these data. The authors wish to apologise to the readers, reviewers and Editors of Gene that they submitted and published data which they themselves did not generate and which appear unlikely to be genuine. ,