Long noncoding RNA ZFPM2-AS1 promotes the tumorigenesis of renal cell cancer via targeting miR-137
Authors: J-Y Yang
G Wan
H-B Wang
J-G Liu
M-Z Yang
X-J Jiang
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: lncRNA; ZFPM2-AS1; renal cell cancer; progression; metastasis
Affiliations: Department of Urology Surgery, Dalian Municipal Friendship Hospital, Dalian, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted more attention for their roles in tumor progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of lncRNA ZFPM2 antisense RNA 1 (ZFPM2-AS1) in the progression of renal cell cancer (RCC), and to explore the possible underlying mechanism. Patients and methods: Expression levels of ZFPM2-AS1 in both RCC cells and 50 paired tissue samples were detected by Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, the relationship between lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 expression level and clinic-pathological characteristics as well as patients' disease-free survival rate was explored, respectively. Furthermore, cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay and transwell assay were performed to investigate the role of lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 in vitro. In addition, Western blot assay, Luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were used to explore the possible underlying mechanism. Results: The expression level of ZFPM2-AS1 in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that of corresponding normal tissues. ZFPM2-AS1 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and survival time of RCC patients. Moreover, the overexpression of ZFPM2-AS1 significantly promoted the growth, invasion and migration of tumor cells, whereas remarkably inhibited cell apoptosis in vitro. Further experiments revealed that miR-137 was a direct target of ZFPM2-AS1. In addition, miR-137 expression in tumor tissues was negatively correlated with ZFPM2-AS1 expression. Conclusions: Our findings indicated that ZFPM2-AS1 could promote metastasis and proliferation, whereas inhibiting the apoptosis of RCC via targeting miR-137. This study might provide a new vision for interpreting the mechanism of RCC development. 

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. , 
 Withdrawn. https: www.europeanreview.org article 22996 *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 ZFPM2-AS1 promotes the tumorigenesis of renal cell cancer via targeting miR-137, by J.-G. Liu, H.-B. Wang, G. Wan, M.-Z. Yang, X.-J. Jiang, J.-Y. Yang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (13): 5675-5681u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201907_18304u2013PMID: 31298319u201d has been withdrawn.* *The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.* ,