RHBDF2 gene functions are correlated to facilitated renal clear cell carcinoma progression

BACKGROUND: The rhomboids are a family of multi-transmembrane proteins, many of which have been implicated in facilitating tumor progression. Little is yet known, however, about rhomboid-associated biomarkers in cancers. An analysis of such biomarkers could yield important insights into the role of the rhomboids in cancer pathology. METHODS: In this study, we carried out the univariate Cox regression analysis and compared gene expression patterns of several rhomboid genes in 30 types of cancers by using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the methods delineated in Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). We then used datasets GSE47032, GSE126964, GSE68417 and 75 paired pathological specimens to verify the influences of the rhomboid genes in cancer progression. Moreover, we carried out Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) to investigate gene-related functions and we exploited potential correlations between rhomboid genes expression and immune cell infiltration in cancer tissues. Furthermore, we constructed gene-knockdown cancer cell lines to investigate rhomboid gene functions. RESULTS: We find that kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) disease progression is affected by fluctuations in the expression of a number of the rhomboid family of genes and, more specifically, high levels of RHBDF2 gene expression are a good indicator of poor prognosis of the disease, as patients with high RHBDF2 expression levels exhibit less favorable survival rates compared to those with low RHBDF2 levels. Silencing of the RHBDF2 gene in KIRC cell lines leads to significantly diminished cell proliferation and migration; this is in good agreement with the identification of an enhanced presence of a number of cell growth and migration promoting signaling molecules in KIRC tumors. We found that, although high level of RHBDF2 correlated with increased infiltration of lymphocytes in cancer tissues, artificially overexpressed RHBDF2 led to an inhibition of the activity of the infiltrated immune cells through sustaining PD-L1 protein level. Furthermore, we show that RHBDF2 related cell migration and PD-L1 regulation were potentially mediated by EGFR signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: RHBDF2 gene functions are correlated to facilitated renal clear cell carcinoma progression and may serve as a critical prognostic biomarker for the disease. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-021-02277-0.