The expression and prognostic value of RNA binding proteins in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) have previously been demonstrated to be involved in the initiation and development of human cancers. However, its role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is not yet clear. The study was intended to explore the diagnostic and prognostic value of RBPs in ccRCC via bioinformatics methods of public datasets.

METHODS

Data download from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to identify differentially expressed RBPs between normal renal samples and cancerous samples. Then, we performed the gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using the ClusterProfiler package. Next, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was built by the online tool STRING database and Cytoscape software. The significant module and hub genes were screened by MCODE and Cytohubba plugin, respectively. Lastly, we performed a systematical analysis to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of candidate RBPs.

RESULTS

A total of 133 DEGs, including 39 upregulated RBPs and 94 downregulated RBPs, were screened between ccRCC samples and noncancerous samples. From these data, eight candidate RBPs (RPS2, GAPDH, RPS20, EIF4A1, RPL18, RPL13, RPL18A, and RPS19) were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, we screened differentially expressed RBPs of ccRCC, which were enriched mainly in various biological processes and signaling pathways. Furthermore, we identified eight candidate RBPs, which could serve as potential biomarkers of ccRCC.