Correlation between expression levels of lncRNA UCA1 and miR-18a with prognosis of hepatocellular cancer
Authors: J-Z Li
Y Xiao
Y-Q Qin
Z-W Wei
F Li
Z Zhang
H-M Li
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: lncRNA; UCA1; miR-18a; hepatocellular cancer; HCC
Affiliations: Departments of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: To uncover the prognostic potentials of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) UCA1 and miR-18a in hepatocellular cancer (HCC). Patients and methods: Expression levels of UCA1 and microRNA-18a (miR-18a) in HCC tissues and adjacent normal ones harvested from 55 HCC patients were determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Clinical data of HCC patients were recorded, including pathological grading, tumor staging, intrahepatic metastasis, serum level of α-fetoprotein (AFP), tumor size, tumor number, recurrence, etc. Based on the median levels of UCA1 and miR-18a, enrolled HCC patients were classified into high-level and low-level group. Potential correlation between expression levels of UCA1 and miR-18a with survival of HCC patients was analyzed. The 4-year follow-up data of HCC patients were collected for analyzing factors that may influence prognosis in HCC patients by the Cox regression model. Results: UCA1 was upregulated and miR-18a was downregulated in HCC tissues. HCC patients with stage III-IV, tumor size ≥5 cm or multiple tumors expressed high level of UCA1. Besides, HCC patients with stage I-II, non-intrahepatic metastasis or primarily diagnosed expressed a relatively low level of miR-18a. High-level UCA1 and low-level miR-18a predicted worse prognosis in HCC patients. Cox regression analysis revealed that tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging, intrahepatic metastases, postoperative recurrences, and UCA1 were risk factors for HCC, while miR-18a was the protective factor. Conclusions: LncRNA UCA1 is upregulated and miR-18a is downregulated in HCC tissues. High-level UCA1 and low-level miR-18a are closely linked to poor prognosis in HCC. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
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  The authors feel that the apparent similarity likely resulted from mixing images cropped from different gels to assemble the final figure, but the original data could not be retrieved for analysis. This particular image was a negative control and does not affect the overall data interpretation or the conclusions from the study regarding interaction of p300 to proline-derived peptides, including deletion of the proline motifs of p53 that attenuate p300 functions (fig 5 6 7) and proline repeat domain protein promoter recruitment by chromatin ip (fig 8 9). The ability of proline repeat peptides to bind to p300 was also established by other studies (doi; 10.1074 jbc.M210696200; DOI; 10.1074 jbc.275.3.2115; DOI; 10.1016 j.jmb.2005.12.026; 10.1038 onc.2009.71). , 
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 Figure 6. Much more similar than expected. ![file] FYI: J Biol Chem . 2003 Apr 11;278(15):13431-41. doi: 10.1074 jbc.M211460200. Epub 2002 Dec 23. DNA-dependent acetylation of p53 by the transcription coactivator p300 David Dornan 1, Harumi Shimizu, Neil D Perkins, Ted R Hupp Affiliation 1Cancer Research UK Laboratories, Department of Molecular Cellular Pathology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom. PMID: 12499368 DOI: 10.1074 jbc.M211460200 , 
 Figure 6. Much more similar and different than expected. ![file] FYI: J Biol Chem . 2003 Apr 11;278(15):13431-41. doi: 10.1074 jbc.M211460200. Epub 2002 Dec 23. DNA-dependent acetylation of p53 by the transcription coactivator p300 David Dornan 1, Harumi Shimizu, Neil D Perkins, Ted R Hupp Affiliation 1Cancer Research UK Laboratories, Department of Molecular Cellular Pathology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom. PMID: 12499368 DOI: 10.1074 jbc.M211460200 , 
 Figure 3. Much more similar and different than expected. ![file] , 
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 Correction. Figure 9. Much more similar than expected. ![file] , 
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 #2  The ability of proline repeat peptides to bind to p300 was also established by other studies (doi; 10.1074 jbc.M210696200; DOI; 10.1074 jbc.275.3.2115; DOI; 10.1016 j.jmb.2005.12.026; 10.1038 onc.2009.71). The issue is the data in this paper. , 
 Thank you for identifying these data discrepancies in our study. The University of Dundee research integrity team is analyzing the data at this time and we will post a conclusion of the review, and possible actions that will be taken, once the evaluation has been completed. ,