microRNA-769 is downregulated in colorectal cancer and inhibits cancer progression by directly targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 1
Authors: Pei Lu
Fangfang Zhou
Minyi Xu
Lei Wang
Journal: OncoTargets and Therapy (2018)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: apoptosis; colorectal cancer; cyclin-dependent kinase 1; metastasis; microRNA-769
Affiliations: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Eighth People's Hospital, Xuhui Branch of Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200235, People's Republic of China, .

Abstract:  Background: In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be aberrantly expressed in colorectal cancer (CRC). The deregulation of miRNAs is implicated in the formation and progression of CRC, and participates in the regulation of a wide range of biological behaviors. Considering the crucial role of miRNAs in CRC, miRNAs are thought to have significant promise in the diagnosis and therapy of patients with this malignancy. Material and methods: Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to detect miR-769 expression in CRC tissues and cell lines. MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis were used to determine the effects of miR-769 upregulation in CRC cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. The influence of miR-769 overexpression in CRC cell migration and invasion was evaluated through migration and invasion assays. Notably, the possible mechanisms underlying the action of miR-769 in CRC cells were explored. Results: In the present study, miR-769 was frequently found to be poorly expressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. Functional assays showed that recovery of miR-769 expression suppressed CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, increased cell apoptosis in vitro, and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) was the direct target of miR-769 in CRC cells. CDK1 was overexpressed in CRC tissue samples and negatively correlated with miR-769 expression. In addition, CDK1 inhibition imitated the tumor suppressor activity of miR-769 in CRC cells, and restoration of CDK1 expression partially abolished the tumor-suppressing roles of miR-769 in malignant CRC cells. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that miR-769 was downregulated in CRC and directly targeted CDK1 to be implicated in the regulation of CRC cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion. Thus, the miR-769/CDK1 axis might be an effective therapeutic target for treating patients with CRC. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Fig 2(D, E).  Migration and invasion assays were used to determine the migratory and invasive capacities of HCT116 and SW480 cells transfected with miR-769 mimics or miR-NC, respectively . ![file] Fig 3 from [Liao et al (2018)] .  miR-874 overexpression decreases the migration and invasion abilities of SiHa and HeLa cells. (A) Transwell migration assay was conducted to determine the migration ability of SiHa and HeLa cells following transfection with miR-874 mimics or miR-NC. (B) The effect of miR-874 overexpression on the invasion capacity of SiHa and HeLa cells was determined using Transwell invasion assay . ![file] Overlapping images. Different identifications. Two separate teams of researchers at unrelated institutions seem to have had access to a single pool of images, picking images at random to illustrate descriptions of experiments. , 
 Clockwise from left: - **Fig 7A from [Wang et al (2018)] **.  The representative images of the miR-769 mimics and miR-NC [SW480] tumor xenografts. Rotated through 90 deg to facilitate comparison. - Fig 7B from [Song et al (2018)] .  Representative images of the miR-532 mimics and miR-NC [SW480] xenograft tumors . - Fig 7A from [Lv et al (2019)] .  The representative images of [HOS] tumor xenografts obtained from agomir-NC and agomir-761 groups . - Fig 7A from [Lyu et al (2019)] .  Representative images of the [Y79] tumor xenografts derived from miR-485 mimics or miR-NC groups . - Fig 7A from [Yao et al (2018)] .  Photographs of tumor xenografts derived from miR-641 mimics- or miR-NC-transfected HeLa cells . ![file] Certain pairs of tumors appear to be the same (colored boxes). All five institutions seem to be using the same distinctively-battered ruler. , 
 Retracted, [17 September 2021] . ------------------------------------- The Editor and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised over alleged image duplication in Figures 2E and 7A with similar images from unrelated articles, specifically: - Figure 2E, panel HCT116 mir-769 mimics appears to have been duplicated with a similar image in Figure 3A from Liao et al, 2018 . - Figure 7A, panel miR-NC, appears to have been duplicated with a similar image in Figure 7A from Yao et al, 2018 . The authors did not respond to our queries and the Editor determined the findings of the study were no longer valid and advised for the article to be retracted. Our decision-making was informed by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retraction. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as u201cRetractedu201d. ,