Extract of Spatholobus suberctus Dunn ameliorates ischemia-induced injury by targeting miR-494
Authors: Pengyan Zhu
Xiaomei Li
Faliang Lin
Changyan Wu
Shuling Zhao
Shiqing Song
Qiao Han
Journal: PLoS ONE (2017)
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Keywords: Cerebral stroke; ischemic stroke; therapeutic drug; oxygen-glucose deprivation; middle cerebral artery occlusion
Affiliations: Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College, Yantai, Shandong, China., Yantai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yantai, Shandong, China., Yantai Blood Center, Yantai, Shandong, China., Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College, Zunyi, Guizhou, China.

Abstract:  Cerebral stroke is a leading cause of death and permanent disability. The current therapeutic outcome of ischemic stroke (&gt;85% of all strokes) is very poor, thus novel therapeutic drug is urgently needed. In vitro cell model of ischemia was established by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) and in vivo animal model of ischemia was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The effects of Spatholobus suberctus Dunn extract (SSCE) on OGD-induced cell injury, MCAO-induced neural injury and miR-494 level were all evaluated. The possible target genes were virtually screened utilizing bioinformatics and verified by luciferase assay. Subsequently, the effects of abnormally expressed miR-494 on OGD-induced cell injury and target gene expression were determined. Additionally, whether SSCE affected target gene expression through modulation of miR-494 was studied. Finally, the effects of aberrantly expressed Sox8 on OGD-induced injury and signaling pathways were estimated. SSCE reduced OGD-induced cell injury and ameliorated MCAO-induced neuronal injury, along with down-regulation of miR-494. Then, OGD-induced cell injury was increased by miR-494 overexpression but decreased by miR-494 silence. Sox8 was a target gene of miR-494, and SSCE could up-regulate Sox8 expression via down-regulating miR-494. Afterwards, OGD-induced cell injury was proved to be increased by Sox8 inhibition but reduced by Sox8 overexpression. Finally, OGD-induced inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK pathways was further inhibited by Sox8 silence but activated by Sox8 overexpression. SSCE ameliorates ischemia-induced injury both in vitro and in vivo by miR-494-mediated modulation of Sox8, involving activations of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK pathways. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 2017 retraction. https: journals.plos.org plosone article?id=10.1371 journal.pone.0212836 Retraction: Extract of Spatholobus suberctus Dunn ameliorates ischemia-induced injury by targeting miR-494 The PLOS ONE Editors Published: February 20, 2019https: doi.org 10.1371 journal.pone.0212836 Following the publication of this article [1], concerns were raised that background pixelation patterns are highly similar between individual Western blot panels in each of the relevant figure panels. The authors have not responded to the journalu2019s queries and we have not received a response from the corresponding authoru2019s institution (Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College) regarding the concerns raised. Furthermore, the underlying data supporting the results in this article have not been provided, per our Data Availability policy. In light of the image concerns and the unavailability of underlying data, the PLOS ONE Editors retract this article. The authors did not comment on the retraction decision. Reference 1. Song S, Lin F, Zhu P, Wu C, Zhao S, Han Q, et al. (2017) Extract of Spatholobus suberctus Dunn ameliorates ischemia-induced injury by targeting miR-494. PLoS ONE 12(9): e0184348. https: doi.org 10.1371 journal.pone.0184348 pmid:28880896 , 
 #1 You may be interested in this thread about a paper by what appears to be the same author group: https: pubpeer.com publications BCB90A4F111B4552799F6F83E35EA9 ,