Zhao Kai, Zhang Qijie, Wang Yamin, Zhang Jiayi, Cong Rong, Song Ninghong, Wang Zengjun
Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
Transl Androl Urol. 2020 Apr;9(2):303-311. doi: 10.21037/tau.2020.02.17.
The pathogenesis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), one of the most common malignant neoplasms, remains unknown. Studies on competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) have uncovered new interactions between RNAs, which suggest their roles in cancer pathogenesis. However, the role of ceRNA networks in mRCC has not yet been studied. Thus, this study aims to explore the role of ceRNA networks in mRCC development and identify potential prognostic indicators.
We analyzed RNA sequencing data of mRCC patients, which had been obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Next, differentially expressed long-noncoding RNAs (DElncRNAs), differentially expressed micro RNAs (DEmiRNAs), and differentially expressed messenger RNAs (DEmRNAs) in mRCC and clear cell RCC (ccRCC) samples were identified using the edgeR package that is available in R software. Moreover, based on the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), enrichment analyses for biological processes and pathways functional were performed. As such, we built a ceRNA network and performed a survival analysis using the survival package in R.
A total of 369 DElncRNAs, 12 DEmiRNAs, and 728 DEmRNAs were identified for further analysis. Of these, 11 lncRNAs, 20 mRNAs, and 2 miRNAs were included in the ceRNA network. Moreover, 7 of the 11 lncRNAs and 3 of the 20 mRNAs were associated with the overall survival of mRCC patients (P<0.05).
Collectively, our findings allow a deepened understanding of the molecular mechanism of the ceRNA network and its role in mRCC development, which can guide both mRCC therapy and related future research.
转移性肾细胞癌（mRCC）是最常见的恶性肿瘤之一，其发病机制尚不清楚。对竞争性内源性RNA（ceRNA）的研究揭示了RNA之间的新相互作用，提示它们在癌症发病机制中的作用。然而，ceRNA网络在mRCC中的作用尚未得到研究。因此，本研究旨在探讨ceRNA网络在mRCC发生发展中的作用，并确定潜在的预后指标。
我们分析了从癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）数据库获得的mRCC患者的RNA测序数据。接下来，使用R软件中的edgeR包鉴定mRCC和透明细胞肾细胞癌（ccRCC）样本中差异表达的长链非编码RNA（DElncRNAs）、差异表达的微小RNA（DEmiRNAs）和差异表达的信使RNA（DEmRNAs）。此外，基于注释、可视化和综合发现数据库（DAVID），对生物学过程和功能途径进行了富集分析。据此，我们构建了一个ceRNA网络，并使用R中的生存包进行了生存分析。
共鉴定出369个DElncRNAs、12个DEmiRNAs和728个DEmRNAs用于进一步分析。其中，11个lncRNAs、20个mRNAs和2个miRNAs被纳入ceRNA网络。此外，11个lncRNAs中的7个和20个mRNAs中的3个与mRCC患者的总生存期相关（P<0.05）。
总体而言，我们的研究结果加深了对ceRNA网络分子机制及其在mRCC发生发展中作用的理解，可为mRCC治疗及相关未来研究提供指导。
