# RETRACTION: The long noncoding RNA AK002107 negatively modulates miR‐140‐5p and targets TGFBR1 to induce epithelial‐mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma

## TL;DR

This retracted paper claimed that a long noncoding RNA contributes to liver cancer by modulating a microRNA and targeting a protein involved in cell transition.

## Contribution

The study proposed a novel mechanism involving AK002107, miR-140-5p, and TGFBR1 in hepatocellular carcinoma progression.

## Key findings

- AK002107 negatively modulates miR-140-5p in hepatocellular carcinoma.
- TGFBR1 is targeted by AK002107 to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
- The study's conclusions were retracted due to image duplication concerns.

## Abstract

RETRACTION: Tang, Y. H., He, G. L., Huang, S. Z., Zhong, K. B., Liao, H., Cai, L., Gao, Y., Peng, Z. W., & Fu, S. J. (2019), The long noncoding RNA AK002107 negatively modulates miR‐140‐5p and targets TGFBR1 to induce epithelial‐mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma. Mol Oncol, 13(5): 1296–1310. https://doi.org/10.1002/1878-0261.12487.

The above article, published online on 11 April 2019 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor‐in‐Chief, Kevin Ryan, FEBS Press, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation into concerns raised by a third party, which revealed image duplication between figure 2D of this manuscript and figure 4G of an earlier publication by different authors [1]. The authors provided images of the trays of cell colonies which match the panels in figure 2, but did not provide a compelling explanation for the image duplication with the earlier publication [1]. Therefore, the editors consider the conclusions of the study to be substantially compromised and are retracting the article. The authors do not agree with the retraction.

Reference

[1] Zeng JD, Zhang N, Zhao GJ, Xu LX, Yang Y, Xu XY, Chen MK, Wang HY, Zheng SX, Li XX. (2018) MT1G is Silenced by DNA Methylation and Contributes to the Pathogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Cancer, 9(16): 2807–2816. https://doi.org/10.7150/jca.25680