Overexpression of interleukin-20 receptor subunit beta (IL20RB) correlates with cell proliferation, invasion and migration enhancement and poor prognosis in papillary renal cell carcinoma

Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) accounts for about 10 percent of all renal cell carcinomas, and the prognosis is poor for people with advanced disease. Interleukin-20 receptor subunit beta (IL20RB) is a single-pass type I membrane protein of the type II cytokine receptor family and is related to the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis, glaucoma, vitiligo, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. However, little has been reported on IL20RB with respect to cancer, especially in PRCC. Thus, we performed this study to explore its biological characteristics in PRCC. Data from the TCGA database were used to analyze the expression and prognosis of IL20RB. qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of IL20RB in PRCC cells in vitro. After knockdown of IL20RB with small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of Ketr-3 cells and the expression of related proteins in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway were measured with Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell, and western blot assays. The findings demonstrated that the expression of IL20RB was upregulated in both PRCC tissues and cells and that the high expression of IL20RB led to low overall survival (OS). Furthermore, after knockdown of IL20RB in vitro, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of Ketr-3 cells were reduced, and the expression of related proteins in the EMT pathway declined, suggesting that IL20RB plays a vital role in PRCC through the EMT pathway. These results reveal the biological significance of IL20RB in PRCC and provide new insight for future targeted drugs.