Protective effect of autophagy on endoplasmic reticulum stress induced apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells in rat models of COPD
Authors: Yong-Jian Wang
Dong-Mei Wu
Qi-Hang Cai
Jun Lu
Jin-Yu Zhu
Shao-Hua Fan
Meng-Qi Xiao
Zi-Feng Zhang
Yao Tang
Yuan-Lin Zheng
Journal: Bioscience reports (2017)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: Alveolar epithelial cells; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Endoplasmic reticulum stress.
Affiliations: Key Laboratory for Biotechnology on Medicinal Plants of Jiangsu Province, School of Life Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, P.R. China., Department of Respiration, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, P.R. China., Key Laboratory for Biotechnology on Medicinal Plants of Jiangsu Province, School of Life Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, P.R. China   .

Abstract:  During the present study, we explored the protective effects of autophagy on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress (ERS) induced apoptosis belonging to alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) in rat models with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Fifty-six 12-week-old male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly assigned into the COPD group (rats exposed to cigarette smoke (CS)), the 3-methyladenine (3-MA) intervention group (COPD rats were administrated with 10 mg/kg autophagy inhibitors), the chloroquine (CQ)-intervention group (COPD rats were administrated 40 mg/kg CQ), and the control group (rats breathed in normal saline). The forced expiratory volume in 0.3 s/forced vital capacity (FEV0.3/FVC%), inspiratory resistance (RI), and dynamic lung compliance (Cdyn) were measured and recorded. The expressions of PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-homologous protein (CHOP) were detected by immunohistochemistry. The cell apoptotic rates of AECs were analyzed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining. The expression levels of light chain 3 (LC3-II), p62, Beclin-1, ATG5, ATG7, Caspase-12, and Caspase-3 were detected by Western blotting. Results showed that the COPD group exhibited a lower FEV0.3/FVC% and Cdyn, and a higher RI than the control group. Compared with the control group, the integrated optical density (IOD) values of PERK and CHOP, the apoptotic rate of AECs, and expressions of LC3-II, Beclin-1, ATG5, ATG7, Caspase-3, and Caspase-12 expressions were significantly higher, whereas p62 expression was significantly lower in the COPD group. Based on the results obtained during the present study, it became clear that the inhibition of autophagy could attenuate the ERS-induced apoptosis of AECs in rats with COPD. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 1. There is no meta-analysis presented to support any claim. The authors have simply cited some of the works by the second author and have not provided any counter evidence or aggregation of statistics. 2. The person in this blog post has summarized numerous other issues: http: blogs.bluebec.com racism-masquerading-as-science , 
 This paper has a multitude of issues that have been described at length by others including: 1. Misrepresentation of previous work on pleiotropy, which undermines the conclusions of the paper. 2. Comparisons between species that are inappropriate and or misleading. 3. As Cariniana Ianeirensis stated in the previous comment, the authors provide no meta-analysis to support their claims. Instead, they cherry-pick examples that support their biased conclusions. 4. The authors do not disclose their conflicts of interest. Both authors were funded by white supremacist Nazi organizations, one of which Rushton was the director of. 5. Critically, the authors make no attempt to account for or consider the historical and socioeconomic context that influences their  data , leading to biased and frankly incorrect conclusions. , 
 https: www.journals.elsevier.com personality-and-individual-differences announcements rushton-and-templer-article  Personality and Individual Differences has taken the decision to retract the review article Rushton, J.P., Templer, D.I. (2012). Do pigmentation and the melanocortin system modulate aggression and sexuality in humans as they do in other animals? Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 4-8. This retraction comes after a thorough review of the published article, the sources cited within the article, and critical comments from readers. The retraction notice is currently being finalized and will appear in the journal imminently. , 
 See also https: retractionwatch.com 2020 06 29 journal-calls-2012-paper-deeply-offensive-to-particular-minorities ,