Differentially Expressed Genes in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma as a Potential Marker for Prognostic and Immune Signatures

Ying Tong; Yiwen Yu; Hui Zheng; Yanchun Wang; Suhong Xie; Cuncun Chen; Renquan Lu; Lin Guo

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.776824

Differentially Expressed Genes in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma as a Potential Marker for Prognostic and Immune Signatures

Front Oncol. 2021 Dec 16:11:776824. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.776824. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ying Tong¹, Yiwen Yu¹, Hui Zheng¹, Yanchun Wang¹, Suhong Xie¹, Cuncun Chen¹, Renquan Lu^{1

2}, Lin Guo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by the inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene. Of note, no other gene is mutated as frequently as VHL in ccRCC, turning out that patients with inactivated VHL constitute the majority of ccRCC-related character. Thus, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their molecular networks caused by VHL mutation were considered as important factors for influencing the prognosis of ccRCC. Here, we first screened out six DEGs (GSTA1, GSTA2, NAT8, FABP7, SLC17A3, and SLC17A4) which downregulated in ccRCC patients with VHL non-mutation than with the mutation. Generally, most DEGs with high expression were associated with a favorable prognosis and low-risk score. Meanwhile, we spotted transcription factors and their kinases as hubs of DEGs. Finally, we clustered ccRCC patients into three subgroups according to the expression of hub proteins, and analyzed these subgroups with clinical profile, outcome, immune infiltration, and potential Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) response. Herein, DEGs might be a promising biomarker panel for immunotherapy and prognosis in ccRCC. Moreover, the ccRCC subtype associated with high expression of hubs fit better for ICB therapy.

Keywords: clear cell renal clear cell carcinoma; differentially expressed genes; hubs; immune checkpoint blockade; immune infiltration; subgroups.