Human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common solid lesion within kidney, and its prognostic is influenced by the progression covering a complex network of gene interactions. In our study, we screened differential expressed genes, and constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and a weighted gene co-expression network to identify key genes and pathways associated with the progression of ccRCC (n = 56). Functional and pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in response to wounding, positive regulation of immune system process, leukocyte activation, immune response and cell activation. Downregulated DEGs were significantly enriched in oxidation reduction, monovalent inorganic cation transport, ion transport, excretion and anion transport. In the PPI network, top 10 hub genes were identified (TOP2A, MYC, ALB, CDK1, VEGFA, MMP9, PTPRC, CASR, EGFRandPTGS2). In co-expression network, 6 ccRCC-related modules were identified. They were associated with immune response, metabolic process, cell cycle regulation, angiogenesis and ion transport. In conclusion, our study illustrated the hub genes and pathways involved in the progress of ccRCC, and further molecular biological experiments are needed to confirm the function of the candidate biomarkers in human ccRCC.
International journal of biological sciences. 2018 Feb 12*** epublish ***
Lushun Yuan, Guang Zeng, Liang Chen, Gang Wang, Xiaolong Wang, Xinyue Cao, Mengxin Lu, Xuefeng Liu, Guofeng Qian, Yu Xiao, Xinghuan Wang
Department of Urology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China., Department of Urology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany., Department of Biological Repositories, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China., Department of Pathology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical School, Washington DC, USA., Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.