Bioinformatics and functional analyses of key genes and pathways in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer. The present study was conducted to explore the mechanisms and identify the potential target genes for ccRCC using bioinformatics analysis. The microarray data of GSE15641 were screened on Gene-Cloud of Biotechnology Information (GCBI). A total of 32 ccRCC samples and 23 normal kidney samples were used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between them. Subsequently, the clustering analysis and functional enrichment analysis of these DEGs were performed, followed by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and pathway relation network. Additionally, the most significant module based on PPI network was selected, and the genes in the module were identified as hub genes. Furthermore, transcriptional level, translational level and survival analyses of hub genes were performed to verify the results. A total of 805 genes, 403 upregulated and 402 downregulated, were differentially expressed in ccRCC samples compared with normal controls. The subsequent bioinformatics analysis indicated that the small molecule metabolic process and the metabolic pathway were significantly enriched. A total of 7 genes, including membrane metallo-endopeptidase (MME), albumin (ALB), cadherin 1 (CDH1), prominin 1 (ROM1), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12 (CXCL12), protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type C (PTPRC) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1) were identified as hub genes. In brief, the present study indicated that these candidate genes and pathways may aid in deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of ccRCC, and may be used as therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers of ccRCC.