MicroRNA-497 promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of cardiomyocytes through the downregulation of Mfn2 in a mouse model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury
Authors: Man Li
Jie-Yun Liu
Wen Yang
Chen-Chen Li
Zhen-Jun Wang
Yao-Xin Wang
Lei Qin
Journal: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (2018)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Apoptosis; Cardiomyocytes; MicroRNA-497; Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury; Proliferation.
Affiliations: Department of Cardiovascular Internal Medicine, Kaifeng Central Hospital, Kaifeng, 475000, PR China., Department of Cardiovascular Internal Medicine, Kaifeng Central Hospital, Kaifeng, 475000, PR China. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief. An Expression of Concern for this article was previously published while an investigation was conducted (see related editorial: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113812). This retraction notice supersedes the Expression of Concern published earlier. Concern was raised about the reliability of the images shown in Figure 1, and the Western blots in Figures 6C and 8E, which appear to contain similar features to those found in other publications, as detailed here: https://pubpeer.com/publications/5E5DF69C11DAD50FBE63CD4F95990F; and here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r0MyIYpagBc58BRF9c3luWNlCX8VUvUuPyYYXzxWvgY/edit#gid=262337249. Additional concerns were raised over the provenance of the flow cytometry data in Figure 10C, that appear to contain repeating features. Furthermore, the myocardial infarct images in Figure 5A appear to actually show brain slices. Independent analysis also identified additional suspected image duplications within Figures 3A and 4. The journal requested the corresponding author comment on these concerns and provide the associated raw data. The authors did not respond to this request and therefore the Editor-in-Chief decided to retract the article. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Fig. 10D.  Cell apoptosis of cardiomyocytes is decreased by miR-497 overexpression and Mfn2 gene silencing in vitro. ... (C) and (D), cell apoptosis in each group . It is unlikely that these plots are of natural origin. ![file] This paper has been cited 12 times. 12 teams of researchers looked at panels like these and thought  Yes! That s exactly what a flow-cytometry plot should look like! ![file] , 
 Fig. 8E.  MiR-497 decreases expression of Mfn2 which could promote proliferation and inhibit apoptosis of cardiomyocytes in I R. ... (E), protein bands of expressions of miR-497, Mfn2, Caspase-3, Fas, Bcl-2 and bax in cardiomyocytes . ![file] The loading control has turned up frequently (sometimes as b-actin, sometimes as GAPDH), in an oeuvre of papers from multiple teams with no authors in common. Here, Fig 8(a) from [Liu et al (2018)] and Fig. 9A of [Zhou et al (2018)] . ![file] More examples in the Zhou et al thread. , 
 Fig. 6C.  Western blot analysis and RT-qPCR found that overexpressed miR-497 decreases expression of Mfn2, Caspase-3, Fas, Bcl-2 and bax after I R ... (C) protein bands of expressions of Mfn2, Caspase-3, Fas, Bcl-2 and bax . The loading control here has appeared elsewhere in this oeuvre of papers. ![file] Other examples include Figs 5B and 3B from [Wang et al (2018)] . ![] , 
  Fig. 1. The heart rate and blood pressure in mice models with I R decreased indicating the successful establishment of the mouse model of I R. Fig 1 does not show heart rate blood pressure data, and looks more like HE stains. ![file]  Fig. 2. Pathological changes of myocardial tissues in mice of the sham and the I R groups were observed by HE staining. Fig 2 is the wrong color for HE staining, and looks more like Fig 3 (including sharing the 3rd panel with it).  Fig. 3. Expression of Mfn2 protein in myocardial tissues after I R was increased while it was decreased in mice injected with miR-497 agomir before I R. (A), immunohistochemical staining of expression of Mfn2 protein in myocardial tissues observed under a microscope . Is it possible that the diagram intended to be Fig 2 was printed as Fig 1 by mistake, while an alternative version of Fig 3 became the printed Fig 2? Figures 1 and 2 later reappeared as Fig 3 and 4 of [Cai et al (2019)] : ![file] , 
 Fig 5. These are not myocardial infarcts. ![file] 12 teams of researchers have cited a paper in which slices of brain are presented as heart slices. , 
 #5 Google now lists 23 citations for a paper in which slices of brain are presented as heart slices. , 
 Google now lists 31 citations for a paper in which slices of brain are presented as heart slices. ,