Ceramide synthase-4 orchestrates the cell proliferation and tumor growth of liver cancer and through the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway
Authors: Pingping Tian
Dengjiao Ma
Xiaojie Li
Chuanfang Wu
Jinwu Chen
Tao Liu
Journal: Oncology letters (2017)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: cell proliferation; ceramide synthase-4; liver cancer.
Affiliations: School of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment, Sichuan University, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, P.R. China., School of Life Sciences, Hefei Normal University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.

Abstract:  Liver cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-associated mortalities worldwide, partly due to the absence of effective therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers. Therefore, novel molecular targets are critical to develop new therapeutic approaches for liver cancer. In the present study, ceramide synthase-4 (CERS4) was investigated as a novel molecular target for liver cancer. High expression of CERS4 in liver cancer tissues was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Subsequently, CERS4 was silenced by lentivirus-mediated RNA interfere, and the proliferation rates of liver cancer cells were significantly suppressed (P&lt;0.001). In addition, the weight and volume of the tumors were reduced subsequent to silencing of CERS4 in liver cancer cells, revealed by an in vivo study using Balb/c nude mice. In addition, the nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathway was affected following knockdown of CERS4 in liver cancer cells. The present results proposed that CERS4 is an important regulator of liver cancer cell proliferation and indicated that CERS4 may be a potential anticancer therapeutic target and a promising diagnostic biomarker for human liver cancer. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Image concerns in this paper were found during a systematic search of papers in Spandidos journals for possible duplicated images. Figure 2A. * Red boxes: The 6 panels depicting HepG2 cells on the left look very similar to the 6 panels depicting Huh7 panels on the right. ![file] , 
 Corrigendum, February 2021: https: www.spandidos-publications.com 10.3892 ol.2021.12551  Subsequently to the publication of the above article, an interested reader drew to the authorsu2019 attention that, on p. 1480, the data shown in Fig. 2A appeared to be identical with that shown in Fig. 2B. After having re-examined their data, the authors realized that Fig. 2 had been assembled incorrectly, and the data that were intended to have shown the experiments for Fig. 2B (with Huh7 cells infected by recombinant lentivirus) had not been featured with the published figure. The revised version of Fig. 2, showing the corrected data for Fig. 2B, is shown below. Note that the regrettable but inadvertent error made in compiling this figure affected neither the results nor the conclusions reported in this paper, and all the authors agree to this Corrigendum. The authors thank the Editor of Oncology Letters for presenting them with the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum, and apologize to the Editor and to the readership of the Journal for any inconvenience caused. ,