Cellular and molecular effects of PNCK, a non-canonical kinase target in renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a fatal disease when advanced. While immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor-based combinations are associated with improved survival, the majority of patients eventually succumb to the disease. Through a comprehensive pan-cancer, pan-kinome analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), pregnancy-upregulated non-ubiquitous calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase (PNCK), was identified as the most differentially overexpressed kinase in RCC. PNCK overexpression correlated with tumor stage, grade and poor survival. PNCK overexpression in RCC cells was associated with increased CREB phosphorylation, increased cell proliferation, and cell cycle progression. PNCK down-regulation, conversely, was associated with the opposite, in addition to increased apoptosis. Pathway analyses in PNCK knockdown cells showed significant down-regulation of hypoxia and angiogenesis pathways, as well as the modulation of the cell cycle, DNA damage, and apoptosis pathways. These results demonstrate for the first time the biological role of PNCK, an understudied kinase, in RCC and validate PNCK as a druggable target.