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RETRACTED ARTICLE: Overexpression of OCT4 contributes to progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

Tumor Biology volume 37, pages 4649–4654 (2016)Cite this article

This article was retracted on 20 April 2017

Abstract

The abnormal change of octamer transcription factor 4 (OCT4) is associated with tumor progression; however, its effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) behavior remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between HCC and OCT4. In the present study, IHC, western blot analysis, and QRT-PCR were performed to identify differentially expressed OCT4 in a series of HCC tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. In addition, the functions of OCT4 on HCC progression were studied in vitro. Silencing of OCT4 with siRNA was performed in HCC cell lines, and the impact on proliferation, migration, and the EMT marker of HCC was analyzed. Our results found that OCT4 levels were significantly higher in HCC tissues compared with the adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Furthermore, OCT4 siRNA significantly reduced the proliferation rate of SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells, inhibited the migration and inversion, and could reverse EMT in HCC cells, indicating that OCT4 plays a critical role in HCC progression. Our data suggest that the pathogenesis of human HCC may be mediated by OCT4, and thus, OCT4 could represent selective targets for the molecularly targeted treatments of HCC.

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Conflicts of interest

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Huai’an First People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China

    Gang Xu, Fuzhen Qi, Jianhuai Zhang, Jianbo Xu & Ting Shi

  2. Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Yi Miao

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  1. Gang Xu
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  2. Fuzhen Qi
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  3. Jianhuai Zhang
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  4. Jianbo Xu
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  5. Ting Shi
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  6. Yi Miao
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Correspondence to Yi Miao.

Additional information

The Publisher and Editor retract this article in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). After a thorough investigation we have strong reason to believe that the peer review process was compromised.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13277-017-5487-6.

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Xu, G., Qi, F., Zhang, J. et al. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Overexpression of OCT4 contributes to progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 37, 4649–4654 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4285-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4285-2

Keywords

  • Hepatocellular carcinoma
  • Octamer transcription factor 4
  • Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
  • Proliferation
  • Migration