A report by an independent science integrity consultant was delivered to the Editor-in-Chief of DNA and Cell Biology whereby a set of 39 papers from the author group of Hua Tang at Tianjin Medical University “appear to contain identical or overlapping images that represent different experiments, mostly colony formation assays or transwell experiments. The problems in each individual paper might seem minor, but together, the large amounts of overlapping images might suggest a much broader problem.” A corresponding link to PubPeer.com was provided.1
The report noted that nearly all of the 39 papers in question have been funded by multiple grants of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
The Editor-in-Chief of DNA and Cell Biology reviewed the information and found that the digital manipulation of images in figures 1, 3, and 4 is scientific misconduct. The paper is officially retracted based on the image manipulation alone, but also due to the appearance of a pattern of malfeasance from this lab.
DNA and Cell Biology
is committed to upholding the standards of scientific publishing and the community it serves and will not tolerate any improprieties.
AlexopoulouL., HoltA.C., MedzhitovR., and FlavellR.A. (2001). Recognition of double-stranded RNA and activation of NF-kappaB by toll-like receptor 3. Nature, 413, 732–738.
BeschR., PoeckH., HohenauerT., SenftD., HackerG., BerkingC., et al. (2009). Proapoptotic signaling induced by RIG-I and MDA-5 results in type I interferon-independent apoptosis in human melanoma cells. The Journal of clinical investigation, 119, 2399–2411.
4.
CraigV.J., CogliattiS.B., ImigJ., RennerC., NeuenschwanderS., RehrauerH., et al. (2011). Myc-mediated repression of microRNA-34a promotes high-grade transformation of B-cell lymphoma by dysregulation of FoxP1. Blood, 117, 6227–6236.
5.
CuiS., EisenacherK., KirchhoferA., BrzozkaK., LammensA., LammensK., et al. (2008). The C-terminal regulatory domain is the RNA 5′-triphosphate sensor of RIG-I. Mol Cell, 29, 169–179.
6.
GeeP., ChuaP.K., GevorkyanJ., KlumppK., NajeraI., SwinneyD.C., et al. (2008). Essential role of the N-terminal domain in the regulation of RIG-I ATPase activity. J Biol Chem, 283, 9488–9496.
7.
GizaD.E., VasilescuC., and CalinG.A. (2014). MicroRNAs and ceRNAs: therapeutic implications of RNA networks. Expert Opin Biol Ther, 14, 1285–1293.
8.
HouJ., WangP., LinL., LiuX., MaF., AnH., et al. (2009). MicroRNA-146a feedback inhibits RIG-I-dependent Type I IFN production in macrophages by targeting TRAF6, IRAK1, and IRAK2. J Immunol, 183, 2150–2158.
9.
HuJ., HeY., YanM., ZhuC., YeW., ZhuH., et al. (2013). Dose dependent activation of retinoic acid-inducible gene-I promotes both proliferation and apoptosis signals in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. PloS One 8,e58273.
10.
HuJ., Nistal-VillanE., VohoA., GaneeA., KumarM., DingY., et al. (2010). A common polymorphism in the caspase recruitment domain of RIG-I modifies the innate immune response of human dendritic cells. J Immunol, 185, 424–432.
11.
KangH.W., WangF., WeiQ., ZhaoY.F., LiuM., LiX., et al. (2012). miR-20a promotes migration and invasion by regulating TNKS2 in human cervical cancer cells. FEBS Lett, 586, 897–904.
12.
KatoH., TakeuchiO., SatoS., YoneyamaM., YamamotoM., MatsuiK., et al. (2006). Differential roles of MDA5 and RIG-I helicases in the recognition of RNA viruses. Nature, 441, 101–105.
13.
KimB.M., and ChoiM.Y. (2012). Non-canonical microRNAs miR-320 and miR-702 promote proliferation in Dgcr8-deficient embryonic stem cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 426, 183–189.
14.
KimS., LeeS., ShinJ., KimY., EvnouchidouI., KimD., et al. (2011). Human cytomegalovirus microRNA miR-US4-1 inhibits CD8(+) T cell responses by targeting the aminopeptidase ERAP1. Nat Immunol, 12, 984–991.
15.
KinlenL. (2004). Infections and immune factors in cancer: the role of epidemiology. Oncogene, 23, 6341–6348.
16.
KolakofskyD., KowalinskiE., and CusackS. (2012). A structure-based model of RIG-I activation. RNA, 18, 2118–2127.
17.
KowalinskiE., LunardiT., McCarthyA.A., LouberJ., BrunelJ., GrigorovB., et al. (2011). Structural basis for the activation of innate immune pattern-recognition receptor RIG-I by viral RNA. Cell, 147, 423–435.
18.
KumarB., YadavA., LangJ., TeknosT.N., and KumarP. (2012). Dysregulation of microRNA-34a expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma promotes tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis. PloS One, 7, e37601.
19.
KutikhinA.G., and YuzhalinA.E. (2012). Inherited variation in pattern recognition receptors and cancer: dangerous liaisons?. Cancer Manage Res, 4, 31–38.
20.
LaiM., DuG., ShiR., YaoJ., YangG., WeiY., et al. (2015). MiR-34a inhibits migration and invasion by regulating the SIRT1/p53 pathway in human SW480 cells. Mol Med Rep, 11, 3301–3307.
21.
LiX.J., RenZ.J., and TangJ.H. (2014a). MicroRNA-34a: a potential therapeutic target in human cancer. Cell Death Dis 5,e1327.
LiangJ., LiY., DanielsG., SfanosK., De MarzoA., WeiJ., et al. (2015). LEF1 targeting EMT in prostate cancer invasion is regulated by miR-34a. Mol Cancer Res, 13, 681–688.
24.
LiuT., TangH., LangY., LiuM., and LiX. (2009). MicroRNA-27a functions as an oncogene in gastric adenocarcinoma by targeting prohibitin. Cancer Lett, 273, 233–242.
25.
LiuZ., DouC., JiaY., LiQ., ZhengX., YaoY., et al. (2015). RIG-I suppresses the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by regulating MMP9. Int J Oncol, 46, 1710–1720.
26.
MaC., QiY., ShaoL., LiuM., LiX., and TangH. (2013a). Downregulation of miR-7 upregulates Cullin 5 (CUL5) to facilitate G1/S transition in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. IUBMB Life, 65, 1026–1034.
27.
MaY., QinH., and CuiY. (2013b). MiR-34a targets GAS1 to promote cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis in papillary thyroid carcinoma via PI3K/Akt/Bad pathway. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 441, 958–963.
28.
NachmaniD., LankryD., WolfD.G., and MandelboimO. (2010). The human cytomegalovirus microRNA miR-UL112 acts synergistically with a cellular microRNA to escape immune elimination. Nat Immunol, 11, 806–813.
29.
Narisawa-SaitoM., and KiyonoT. (2007). Basic mechanisms of high-risk human papillomavirus-induced carcinogenesis: roles of E6 and E7 proteins. Cancer Sci, 98, 1505–1511.
30.
O'NeillL.A., and BowieA.G. (2011). The powerstroke and camshaft of the RIG-I antiviral RNA detection machine. Cell, 147, 259–261.
31.
OvsyannikovaI.G., HaralambievaI.H., DhimanN., O'ByrneM.M., PankratzV.S., JacobsonR.M., et al. (2010). Polymorphisms in the vitamin A receptor and innate immunity genes influence the antibody response to rubella vaccination. J Infect Dis, 201, 207–213.
32.
PangR.T., LeungC.O., YeT.M., LiuW., ChiuP.C., LamK.K., et al. (2010). MicroRNA-34a suppresses invasion through downregulation of Notch1 and Jagged1 in cervical carcinoma and choriocarcinoma cells. Carcinogenesis, 31, 1037–1044.
33.
PichlmairA., SchulzO., TanC.P., NaslundT.I., LiljestromP., WeberF., et al. (2006). RIG-I-mediated antiviral responses to single-stranded RNA bearing 5′-phosphates. Science, 314, 997–1001.
34.
PothlichetJ., BurteyA., KubarenkoA.V., CaignardG., SolhonneB., TangyF., et al. (2009). Study of human RIG-I polymorphisms identifies two variants with an opposite impact on the antiviral immune response. PloS One 4,e7582.
35.
PothlichetJ., NiewoldT.B., VitourD., SolhonneB., CrowM.K., and Si-TaharM. (2011). A loss-of-function variant of the antiviral molecule MAVS is associated with a subset of systemic lupus patients. EMBO Mol Med, 3, 142–152.
36.
ReshmiG., and PillaiM.R. (2008). Beyond HPV: oncomirs as new players in cervical cancer. FEBS Lett, 582, 4113–4116.
SchleeM. (2013). Master sensors of pathogenic RNA - RIG-I like receptors. Immunobiology, 218, 1322–1335.
39.
SiemensH., JackstadtR., HuntenS., KallerM., MenssenA., GotzU., et al. (2011). miR-34 and SNAIL form a double-negative feedback loop to regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transitions. Cell Cycle, 10, 4256–4271.
40.
SongB., JiW., GuoS., LiuA., JingW., ShaoC., et al. (2014). miR-545 inhibited pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma growth by targeting RIG-I. FEBS Lett, 588, 4375–4381.
41.
VasseurE., PatinE., LavalG., PajonS., FornarinoS., Crouau-RoyB., et al. (2011). The selective footprints of viral pressures at the human RIG-I-like receptor family. Hum Mol Genet, 20, 4462–4474.
42.
WanH.Y., LiQ.Q., ZhangY., TianW., LiY.N., LiuM., et al. (2014). MiR-124 represses vasculogenic mimicry and cell motility by targeting amotL1 in cervical cancer cells. Cancer Lett, 355, 148–158.
43.
WangR., TianS., WangH.B., ChuD.P., CaoJ.L., XiaH.F., et al. (2014). MiR-185 is involved in human breast carcinogenesis by targeting Vegfa. FEBS Lett, 588, 4438–4447.
44.
WangT., LiF., and TangS. (2015). MiR-30a upregulates BCL2A1, IER3 and cyclin D2 expression by targeting FOXL2. Oncol Lett, 9, 967–971.
45.
WenZ., LeiZ., Jin-AnM., Xue-ZhenL., Xing-NanZ., and Xiu-WenD. (2014). The inhibitory role of miR-214 in cervical cancer cells through directly targeting mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM). Eur J Gynaecol Oncol, 35, 676–682.
46.
WiltingS.M., van BoerdonkR.A., HenkenF.E., MeijerC.J., DiosdadoB., MeijerG.A., et al. (2010). Methylation-mediated silencing and tumour suppressive function of hsa-miR-124 in cervical cancer. Mol Cancer 9,167.
47.
XiaoX., ChenB., LiuX., LiuP., ZhengG., YeF., et al. (2014a). Diallyl disulfide suppresses SRC/Ras/ERK signaling-mediated proliferation and metastasis in human breast cancer by up-regulating miR-34a. PloS One 9,e112720.
48.
XiaoZ., LiC.H., ChanS.L., XuF., FengL., WangY., et al. (2014b). A small-molecule modulator of the tumor-suppressor miR34a inhibits the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Res, 74, 6236–6247.
49.
YeeC., Krishnan-HewlettI., BakerC.C., SchlegelR., and HowleyP.M. (1985). Presence and expression of human papillomavirus sequences in human cervical carcinoma cell lines. Am J Pathol, 119, 361–366.
50.
YinM., WangX., YaoG., LuM., LiangM., SunY., et al. (2014). Transactivation of micrornA-320 by microRNA-383 regulates granulosa cell functions by targeting E2F1 and SF-1 proteins. J Biol Chem, 289, 18239–18257.
51.
YoneyamaM., KikuchiM., NatsukawaT., ShinobuN., ImaizumiT., MiyagishiM., et al. (2004). The RNA helicase RIG-I has an essential function in double-stranded RNA-induced innate antiviral responses. Nat Immunol, 5, 730–737.
52.
YoneyamaM., OnomotoK., JogiM., AkaboshiT., and FujitaT. (2015). Viral RNA detection by RIG-I-like receptors. Curr Opin Immunol, 32, 48–53.
53.
ZhangY., DaiJ., DengH., WanH., LiuM., WangJ., et al. (2015). miR-1228 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of hepatoma cells through a p53 forward feedback loop. Br J Cancer, 112, 365–374.
54.
ZhouC., ShenL., MaoL., WangB., LiY., and YuH. (2015). miR-92a is upregulated in cervical cancer and promotes cell proliferation and invasion by targeting FBXW7. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 458, 63–69.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
