[Retracted] Interaction of S100A1 with LATS1 promotes cell growth through regulation of the Hippo pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editors' attention by a concerned reader that the western blotting data shown in Figs. 2B and 3E were strikingly similar to data appearing in different form in other articles written by different authors at different research institutes that had either already been published elsewhere prior to the submission of this paper to International Journal of Oncology, or were under consideration for publication at around the same time. In view of the fact that certain of these data had already apparently been published previously, the Editor of International Journal of Oncology has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Oncology 53: 592­602, 2018; DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2018.4431].

Association between incubation period and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19.

PURPOSE: To investigate associations between the clinical characteristics and incubation periods of patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China. METHODS: Complete clinical and epidemiological data from 149 patients with COVID-19 at a hospital in Hunan Province, China, were collected and retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Analysis of the distribution and receiver operator characteristic curve of incubation periods showed that 7 days was the optimal cut-off value to assess differences in disease severity between groups. Patients with shorter (≤7 days) incubation periods (n = 79) had more severe disease, longer durations of hospitalization, longer times from symptom onset to discharge, more abnormal laboratory findings, and more severe radiological findings than patients with longer (>7 days) incubation periods. Regression and correlation analyses also showed that a shorter incubation period was associated with longer times from symptom onset to discharge. CONCLUSION: The associations between the incubation periods and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients suggest that the incubation period may be a useful marker of disease severity and prognosis.

Interaction of S100A1 with LATS1 promotes cell growth through regulation of the Hippo pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Despite advances in surgery and chemotherapy, the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor. In the present study, the role of S100A1 in the progression of HCC was investigated. Immunohistochemical staining was used to measure the expression of S100A1 in HCC tissues. S100A1 was knocked down by siRNA. A battery of experiments was used to evaluate the biology functions of S100A1. It was found that S100A1 was upregulated in HCC tissues, and its upregulation was associated with a large tumor size, low differentiation and shorter survival time. The biological experiments demonstrated that S100A1 functions as an oncogene in HCC. It was also found that S100A1 knockdown enhanced the inhibitory effects of cisplatin on HCC cells. The results showed that the downregulation of S100A1 induced the phosphorylation of yes­associated protein (YAP), and treatment with CHX demonstrated that the downregulation of S100A1 accelerated YAP protein degradation. The downregulation of S100A1 did not alter the expression of mammalian sterile 20­like kinase (MST)1/2 or phosphorylated MST1/2, but upregulated the phosphorylation of large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1). It was further confirmed that S100A1 interacted with LATS1. LATS1 depletion significantly reduced the effects of S100A1 on cell growth rate and apoptosis, and there was a positive correlation between phosphorylated LATS1 and S100A1 in clinical samples, indicating that LATS1 was responsible for the S100A1-induced changes in cancer cell growth and Hippo signaling. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that S100A1 functions as an oncogene and may be a biomarker for the prognosis of patients with HCC. S100A1 exerted its oncogenic function by interacting with LATS1 and activating YAP. S100A1 may serve as a target for novel therapies in HCC.