Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis to Construct Competitive Endogenous RNA Network in Chromogenic Renal Cell Carcinoma

AIM: This study is aimed at constructing the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC). METHODS: Clinical and RNA sequence profiles of patients with ChRCC, including messenger RNAs (mRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. “edgeR” and “clusterProfiler” packages were utilized to obtain the expression matrices of differential RNAs (DERNAs) and to conduct gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to screen the highly related RNAs, and miRcode, StarBase, miRTarBase, miRDB, and TargetScan datasets were used to predict the connections between them. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regressions were performed in turn to elucidate prognosis-related mRNAs in order to construct the ceRNA regulatory network. RESULTS: A total of 1628 DElncRNAs, 104 DEmiRNAs, and 2619 DEmRNAs were identified. WGCNA showed significant correlation in 1534 DElncRNAs, 98 DEmiRNAs, and 2543 DEmRNAs, which were related to ChRCC. Fourteen DEmiRNAs, 113 DElncRNAs, and 43 DEmRNAs were screened. Nine mRNAs (ALPL, ARHGAP29, CADM2, KIT, KLRD1, MYBL1, PSD3, SFRP1, and SLC7A11) significantly contributed to the overall survival (OS) of patients with ChRCC (P < 0.05). Furthermore, two mRNAs (CADM2 and SFRP1) appeared to be independent risk factors for ChRCC. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed the molecular mechanism of ChRCC and potential therapeutic targets for the disease.