Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a highly invasive urological malignant tumor that results in shorter patient survival. At present, the mechanism of ccRCC metastasis is not clear. We explored the possible mechanisms of ccRCC metastasis by analyzing the transcriptome of ccRCC patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Comparing the differences in transcriptome in patients with and without metastasis, we found 323 differential genes (|log2FoldChange| > 1 and P < 0.001). KEGG and GO enrichment analyses of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) suggest that the transfer mechanism of ccRCC may be related to complement and coagulation cascades and cholesterol metabolism. To explore the key genes affecting tumor metastasis, we analyzed the association of these genes with patient survival time and found that 16 genes were significantly associated (P < 0.05). We compared the differences in expression of these 16 genes between ccRCC patients and the normal population, and the results showed that TF and B4GALNT1 were overexpressed in patients. Co-expression gene analysis indicated that TF may participate in the metastasis of cancer through the complement system and mucopolysaccharide biosynthesis. B4GALNT1 may affect metastasis through focal adhesion, calcium signaling pathways, and Hippo signaling pathways. Our studies suggest that the complement system and the coagulation cascade, cholesterol metabolism, calcium pathway and iron transport may be associated in the mechanism of metastasis. TF and B4GALNT1 may be the key genes for metastasis, and they may be potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for ccRCC.
Gene. 2019 Sep 03 [Epub ahead of print]
Haisheng Yang, Wanqiu Li, Yingnan Lv, Qiuyu Fan, Xingning Mao, Tianzhu Long, Lianguang Xie, Chunting Dong, Rongqing Yang, Haiying Zhang
School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, People's Republic of China; Guangxi Colleges and Universities Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Highly Prevalent Diseases, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, People's Republic of China., School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, People's Republic of China., School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, People's Republic of China; Guangxi Colleges and Universities Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Highly Prevalent Diseases, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, People's Republic of China; Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Nanning 530021, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: .