Long non-coding RNA NEAT1 promotes tumor development and metastasis through targeting miR-224-5p in malignant melanoma
Authors: T-W Ge
J-X Zou
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Melanoma; long noncoding RNAs; lncRNA NEAT1; tumorigenesis; Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction
Affiliations: Department of Dermatology, The People's Hospital of Danyang, Danyang, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: Melanoma is one of the most ordinary malignant tumors. Recent studies have revealed that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the progression of tumorigenesis. This work aims to identify how lncRNA NEAT1 functions in the progression of melanoma. Patients and methods: NEAT1 expression of both melanoma patients' tissue samples and cell lines was detected by Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, the function of NEAT1 was identified by performing the proliferation and transwell assay in vitro. Besides, the underlying mechanism was explored through the Luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. In addition, tumor formation and metastasis assays were also conducted in vivo. Results: In this research, NEAT1 expression was significantly higher in melanoma tissues compared with that in skin tissues with the melanocytic nevus. Cell proliferation and invasion of melanoma were inhibited after the knockdown of NEAT1 in vitro. Moreover, the results of further experiments revealed that microRNA-224-5p (miR-224-5p) was upregulated via the knockdown of NEAT1 and was also a direct target of NEAT1 in melanoma. Furthermore, tumor formation and metastasis of melanoma were inhibited via the knockdown of NEAT1 in nude mice. Conclusions: Our study suggests that NEAT1 enhances melanoma cell proliferation and metastasis via sponging miR-224-5p in vitro and in vivo. 

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 23359 *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 non-coding RNA NEAT1 promotes tumor development and metastasis through targeting miR-224-5p in malignant melanoma, by J.-X. Zou, T.-W. Ge, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (3): 1302-1308u2013DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202002_20187u2013PMID: 32096166u201d has been withdrawn.* *The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.* ,