Screening and identification of key biomarkers in clear cell renal cell carcinoma based on bioinformatics analysis

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most common types of malignancy of the urinary system. The pathogenesis and effective diagnosis of ccRCC have become popular topics for research in the previous decade. In the current study, an integrated bioinformatics analysis was performed to identify core genes associated in ccRCC. An expression dataset (GSE105261) was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, and included 26 ccRCC and 9 normal kideny samples. Assessment of the microarray dataset led to the recognition of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which was subsequently used for pathway and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. This data was utilized in the construction of the protein-protein interaction network and module analysis was conducted using Human Integrated Protein-Protein Interaction rEference (HIPPIE) and Cytoscape software. In addation, target gene - miRNA regulatory network and target gene - TF regulatory network were constructed and analysed. Finally, hub genes were validated by survival analysis, expression analysis, stage analysis, mutation analysis, immune histochemical analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, RT-PCR and immune infiltration analysis. The results of these analyses led to the identification of a total of 930 DEGs, including 469 up regulated and 461 down regulated genes. The pathwayes and GO found to be enriched in the DEGs (up and down regulated genes) were dTMP de novo biosynthesis, glycolysis, 4-hydroxyproline degradation, fatty acid beta-oxidation (peroxisome), cytokine, defense response, renal system development and organic acid metabolic process. Hub genes were identified from PPI network according to the node degree, betweenness centrality, stress centrality, closeness centrality and clustering coefficient. Similarly, targate genes were identified from target gene - miRNA regulatory network and target gene - TF regulatory network according to the node degree. Furthermore, survival analysis, expression analysis, stage analysis, mutation analysis, immune histochemical analysis, ROC curve analysis, RT-PCR and immune infiltration analysis revealed that CANX, SHMT2, IFI16, P4HB, CALU, CDH1, ERBB2, NEDD4L, TFAP2A and SORT1 may be associated in the tumorigenesis, advancement or prognosis of ccRCC. In conclusion, the 10 hub genes diagonised in the current study may help researchers in exemplify the molecular mechanisms linked with the tumorigenesis and advancement of ccRCC, and may be powerful and favorable candidate biomarkers for the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of ccRCC.