Prognostic Value of DNA Methylation-Driven Genes in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Study Based on Methylation and Transcriptome Analyses

Background. Few previous studies have comprehensively explored the level of DNA methylation and gene expression in ccRCC. The purpose of this study was to identify the key clear cell renal cell carcinoma- (ccRCC-) related DNA methylation-driven genes (MDG) and to build a prognostic model based on the level of DNA methylation. Methods. RNA-seq transcriptome data and DNA methylation data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Based on the MethylMix algorithm, we obtain ccRCC-related MDG. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were employed to investigate the correlation between patient overall survival and the methylation level of each MDG. Finally, a prognosis risk score was established based on a linear combination of the regression coefficient derived from the multivariate Cox regression model (β) multiplied with the methylation level of the gene. Results. 19 ccRCC-related MDG were identified. Three MDG (NCKAP1L, EVI2A, and BATF) were further screened and integrated into a prognostic risk score model, risk score=3.710∗methylation level of NCKAP1L+−3.892∗methylation level of EVI2A+−3.907∗methylation level of BATF. The risk model was independent from conventional clinical characteristics as a prognostic factor for ccRCC (HR=1.221, 95% confidence interval: 1.063–1.402, and P=0.005). The joint survival analysis showed that the gene expression and methylation levels of the prognostic genes EVI2A and BATF were significantly related with prognosis. Conclusion. This study provided an important bioinformatics foundation for in-depth studies of ccRCC DNA methylation.

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Screening and identification of novel promoter signatures in clear cell renal cell carcinoma metastasis.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2020.38.6_suppl.737 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (6_suppl) ◽

pp. 737-737

Author(s):

Yuan-Yuan Qu ◽

Xi Tian ◽

Wenhao Xu ◽

Aihemutaijiang Anwaier ◽

Dingwei Ye ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Functional Enrichment ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

737 Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patient usually face aggressive progression when metastasis occurs. Therefore, in-depth investigation is needed to elucidate underlying mechanisms behind the metastasis of ccRCC to promote therapeutic benefits.This study aims to explore and investigate prognostic gene expression profiles based on multi-cohorts. Methods: Three microarray datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to screen and identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) according to normalization annotation information. A total of 112 DEGs with functional enrichment were identified as candidate prognostic biomarkers. A protein–protein interaction network (PPI) of DEGs was developed, and the modules were analyzed using STRING and Cytoscape. Results: LASSO Cox regression suggested 31 significant involved genes, and 10 hub genes were identified as independent oncogenes in ccRCC patients. Distinct integrated scores of the hub genes mRNA expression showed statistical significance in predicting disease-free survival (DFS; p<0.001) and overall survival (OS; p<0.001) in TCGA and real-world cohorts. Meanwhile, ROC curves were constructed to validate specificity and sensitivity of the Cox regression penal to predict prognosis. The AUC index for the integrated genes scores was 0.758 for OS and 0.772 for DFS. Conclusions: In conclusion,the present study identifies DEGs and hub genes that may be involved in earlier recurrence and poor prognosis of ccRCC. The expression levels of ADAMTS9, C1S, DPYSL3, H2AFX, MINA, PLOD2, RUNX1, SLC19A1, TPX2 and TRIB3 are of high prognostic value, and may help us understand better the underlying carcinogenesis or progression of ccRCC.

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Epigenetic signature predicts overall survival clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Cancer Cell International ◽

10.1186/s12935-020-01640-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yejinpeng Wang ◽

Liang Chen ◽

Lingao Ju ◽

Kaiyu Qian ◽

Xinghuan Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Clear Cell ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cox Regression Analysis

Abstract Background Recently, increasing study have found that DNA methylation plays an important role in tumor, including clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods We used the DNA methylation dataset of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to construct a 31-CpG-based signature which could accurately predict the overall survival of ccRCC. Meanwhile, we constructed a nomogram to predict the prognosis of patients with ccRCC. Result Through LASSO Cox regression analysis, we obtained the 31-CpG-based epigenetic signature which were significantly related to the prognosis of ccRCC. According to the epigenetic signature, patients were divided into two groups with high and low risk, and the predictive value of the epigenetic signature was verified by other two sets. In the training set, hazard ratio (HR) = 13.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.0–21.2, P < 0.0001; testing set: HR = 4.1, CI 2.2–7.7, P < 0.0001; entire set: HR = 7.2, CI 4.9–10.6, P < 0.0001, Moreover, combined with clinical indicators, the prediction of 5-year survival of ccRCC reached an AUC of 0.871. Conclusions Our study constructed a 31-CpG-based epigenetic signature that could accurately predicted overall survival of ccRCC and staging progression of ccRCC. At the same time, we constructed a nomogram, which may facilitate the prediction of prognosis for patients with ccRCC.

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Identification of a three-m6A related gene risk score model as a potential prognostic biomarker in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.8827 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. e8827 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yiqiao Zhao ◽

Zijia Tao ◽

Xiaonan Chen

Keyword(s):

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Risk Score ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cox Regression Analysis

Background Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been shown to play important roles in regulating gene expression and phenotypes in both health and disease. Here, our purpose is to construct a m6A-regulrator-based risk score (RS) for prediction of the prognosis of ccRCC. Methods We used clinical and expression data of m6A related genes from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis to develop an RS to predict survival of patients with ccRCC, and analyzed correlations between RS and other clinical indicators such as age, grade and stage. Validation of this RS was then engaged in another cohort, E-MTAB-1980 from the ArrayExpress dataset. Finally, we used quantitative real-time PCR to analyze the expression profile of genes consists of the RS. Results A three-gene RS including METTL3, METTL14 and HNRNPA2B1 which can predict overall survival (OS) of ccRCC patients from TCGA. After applying this RS into the validation cohort from Arrayexpress, we found that it successfully reproduced the result; furthermore, the results of PCR validation were in line with our analysis. Conclusion To sum up, our study has identified an RS composed of m6A related genes that may predict the prognosis of ccRCC patients, which might be helpful for future therapeutic strategies. Our results call for further experimental studies for validations.

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A novel ferroptosis-related 12-gene signature predicts clinical prognosis and reveals immune relevancy in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

10.21203/rs.3.rs-153932/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yingkai Hong ◽

Mingen Lin ◽

Dehua Ou ◽

Zhuangkai Huang ◽

Peilin Shen

Keyword(s):

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Risk Score ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Risk Group ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Prognostic Predictor

Abstract Background Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is still highly aggressive and lethal even with various therapeutic approaches. As kidney is an iron-metabolism-related organ, exploring and assessing the clinical value of ferroptosis, an iron-dependent regulated cell death, is practical and significant. Methods Prognostic ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from KIRC cohort in TCGA database, from which a prognostic signature was established using the Lasso-penalized Cox regression analysis. Each patient in the KIRC cohort and the E-MTAB-1980 cohort (from the ArrayExpress database) was assigned with a calculated signature-correlated risk score and categorized to be either in high- or low-risk group divided by the median risk score in the KIRC cohort. Then, the independent prognostic value of the signature was further assessed by Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Cox regression analyses base on overall survival (OS) in both cohorts. Lastly, risk-related DEGs were identified in both cohorts and applied with the enrichment analyses for Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and immune infiltration. Results Within 60 ferroptosis-related genes, 32 prognostic DEGs were identified, from which we constructed a prognostic 12-gene signature including CARS1, HMGCR, CHAC1, GOT1, CD44, STEAP3, AKR1C1, CBS, DPP4, FANCD2, SLC1A5 and NCOA4. Patients in both cohorts were divided into high- and low-risk group which were visually distributed in two sets and with positive-risk-related mortality. The K-M survival and the ROC curves validated the signature as prognostic valuable with P <0.05 and area under the curve >0.7 in both cohorts, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression further confirmed the risk score as an independent prognostic predictor for OS. Commonly enriched term in GO and KEGG not only shown a highly iron correlation, but also, interesting, an immunity relevancy of 3 immune cells (macrophages, mast cells and regulatory T cell) and 1 immune-related function (antigen processing cell co-stimulation). Conclusion We established a novel 12 ferroptosis-related-gene signature which was proved as an independent prognostic predictor for OS and inferred as relating to tumor immunity in ccRCC, however, the underlying mechanism is still poorly characterized and needed further exploration.

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A novel ferroptosis-related 12-gene signature predicts clinical prognosis and reveals immune relevancy in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

BMC Cancer ◽

10.1186/s12885-021-08559-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yingkai Hong ◽

Mingen Lin ◽

Dehua Ou ◽

Zhuangkai Huang ◽

Peilin Shen

Keyword(s):

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Risk Score ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Prognostic Value ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Prognostic Predictor

Abstract Background Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is still highly aggressive and lethal even with various therapeutic approaches. As the kidney is an iron metabolism-related organ, exploring and assessing the clinical value of ferroptosis, an iron-dependent regulated cell death, is practical and important. Methods Prognostic ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from the KIRC cohort in the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database, from which a prognostic signature was established using Lasso-penalized Cox regression analysis. Each patient in the KIRC cohort and the E-MTAB-1980 cohort (from the ArrayExpress database) was assigned a calculated signature-correlated risk score and categorized to be either in the high- or low-risk group divided by the median risk score in the KIRC cohort. Then, the independent prognostic value of the signature was further assessed by Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Cox regression analyses based on overall survival (OS) in both cohorts. Finally, risk-related DEGs were identified in both cohorts and subjected to enrichment analyses for Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and immune infiltration. Results Among 60 ferroptosis-related genes, 32 prognostic DEGs were identified, from which we constructed a prognostic 12-gene signature with CARS1, HMGCR, CHAC1, GOT1, CD44, STEAP3, AKR1C1, CBS, DPP4, FANCD2, SLC1A5 and NCOA4. Patients in both cohorts were divided into high- and low-risk groups, which were visually distributed in two sets and had positive-risk-related mortality. The K-M survival and the ROC curves validated that the signature has prognostic value with P < 0.05 and area under the curve > 0.7 in both cohorts, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression further confirmed the risk score as an independent prognostic predictor for OS. Commonly enriched terms in GO and KEGG not only showed a high iron correlation but also, interestingly, immune relevance of 3 immune cells (macrophages, mast cells and regulatory T cells) and 1 immune-related function (antigen processing cell co-stimulation). Conclusion We established a novel 12 ferroptosis-related-gene signature that was proven to be an independent prognostic predictor for OS and inferred to be related to tumour immunity in ccRCC; however, the underlying mechanism is still poorly characterized and needs further exploration.

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MCM2-7 in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma: MCM7 Promotes Tumor Cell Proliferation

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2021.782755 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Junneng Zhang ◽

Huanzong Zhang ◽

Yinghui Wang ◽

Qingshui Wang

Keyword(s):

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Risk Score ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Functional Enrichment ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cox Regression Analysis

BackgroundClear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) accounts for 60-70% of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cases. Finding more therapeutic targets for advanced ccRCC is an urgent mission. The minichromosome maintenance proteins 2-7 (MCM2-7) protein forms a stable heterohexamer and plays an important role in DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. In the study, we provide a comprehensive study of MCM2-7 genes expression and their potential roles in ccRCC.MethodsThe expression and prognosis of the MCM2-7 genes in ccRCC were analyzed using data from TCGA, GEO and ArrayExpress. MCM2-7 related genes were identified by weighted co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Metascape. CancerSEA and GSEA were used to analyze the function of MCM2–7 genes in ccRCC. The gene effect scores (CERES) of MCM2-7, which reflects carcinogenic or tumor suppressor, were obtained from DepMap. We used clinical and expression data of MCM2-7 from the TCGA dataset and the LASSO Cox regression analysis to develop a risk score to predict survival of patients with ccRCC. The correlations between risk score and other clinical indicators such as gender, age and stage were also analyzed. Further validation of this risk score was engaged in another cohort, E-MTAB-1980 from the ArrayExpress dataset.ResultsThe mRNA and protein expression of MCM2-7 were increased in ccRCC compared with normal tissues. High MCM2, MCM4, MCM6 and MCM7 expression were associated with a poor prognosis of ccRCC patients. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that MCM2-7 might influence the progress of ccRCC by regulating the cell cycle. Knockdown of MCM7 can inhibit the proliferation of ccRCC cells. A two-gene risk score including MCM4 and MCM6 can predict overall survival (OS) of ccRCC patients. The risk score was successfully verified by further using Arrayexpress cohort.ConclusionWe analyze MCM2-7 mRNA and protein levels in ccRCC. MCM7 is determined to promote tumor proliferation. Meanwhile, our study has determined a risk score model composed of MCM2-7 can predict the prognosis of ccRCC patients, which may help future treatment strategies.

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LAT, HOXD3 and NFE2L3 identified as novel DNA methylation-driven genes and prognostic markers in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma by integrative bioinformatics approaches

Journal of Cancer ◽

10.7150/jca.35641 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (26) ◽

pp. 6726-6737 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jie Wang ◽

Hu Zhao ◽

Huiyue Dong ◽

Ling Zhu ◽

Shuiliang Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Prognostic Markers ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

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Downregulation of lncRNA ZNF582-AS1 due to DNA hypermethylation promotes clear cell renal cell carcinoma growth and metastasis by regulating the N(6)-methyladenosine modification of MT-RNR1

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research ◽

10.1186/s13046-021-01889-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wuping Yang ◽

Kenan Zhang ◽

Lei Li ◽

Yawei Xu ◽

Kaifang Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Protein Expression ◽

Cell Carcinoma ◽

Clinical Significance ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Clear Cell ◽

Expression Level ◽

Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽

Qrt Pcr

Abstract Background Emerging evidence confirms that lncRNAs (long non-coding RNAs) are potential biomarkers that play vital roles in tumors. ZNF582-AS1 is a novel lncRNA that serves as a potential prognostic marker of cancers. However, the specific clinical significance and molecular mechanism of ZNF582-AS1 in ccRCC (clear cell renal cell carcinoma) are unclear. Methods Expression level and clinical significance of ZNF582-AS1 were determined by TCGA-KIRC data and qRT-PCR results of 62 ccRCCs. DNA methylation status of ZNF582-AS1 promoter was examined by MSP, MassARRAY methylation and demethylation analysis. Gain-of-function experiments were conducted to investigate the biological roles of ZNF582-AS1 in the phenotype of ccRCC. The subcellular localization of ZNF582-AS1 was detected by RNA FISH. iTRAQ, RNA pull-down and RIP-qRT-PCR were used to identify the downstream targets of ZNF582-AS1. rRNA MeRIP-seq and MeRIP-qRT-PCR were utilized to examine the N(6)-methyladenosine modification status. Western blot and immunohistochemistry assays were used to determine the protein expression level. Results ZNF582-AS1 was downregulated in ccRCC, and decreased ZNF582-AS1 expression was significantly correlated with advanced tumor stage, higher pathological stage, distant metastasis and poor prognosis. Decreased ZNF582-AS1 expression was caused by DNA methylation at the CpG islands within its promoter. ZNF582-AS1 overexpression inhibited cell proliferative, migratory and invasive ability, and increased cell apoptotic rate in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that ZNF582-AS1 overexpression suppressed the N(6)-methyladenosine modification of MT-RNR1 by reducing rRNA adenine N(6)-methyltransferase A8K0B9 protein level, resulting in the decrease of MT-RNR1 expression, followed by the inhibition of MT-CO2 protein expression. Furthermore, MT-RNR1 overexpression reversed the decreased MT-CO2 expression and phenotype inhibition of ccRCC induced by increased ZNF582-AS1 expression. Conclusions This study demonstrates for the first time that ZNF582-AS1 functions as a tumor suppressor gene in ccRCC and ZNF582-AS1 may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target of ccRCC.

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