PGGHG and ODF3B as New Tumor Suppressor Genes in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Background Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most frequent heterogeneous type of kidney cancer. Although the role of many genes in the development of RCC has been shown, its specific molecular mechanism is still unknown. In this research, we studied the expression profile of two poorly studied genes, PGGHG and ODF3B, with possible role in renal cancers in our RCC patients' tumors and adjacent normal tissues, as well as their clinicopathological features. Materials and Methods The PGGHG and ODF3B expression was determined using the quantitative real-time PCR in 40 tumor samples and their adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Moreover, Enrichr was used to investigate their pathways, ontologies, and possible upstream transcription factors. Furthermore, STRING was applied to search for interaction between PGGHG and ODF3B. Results The expression level of PGGHG and ODF3B was lower in the tumor tissues compared to their adjacent normal tissues. The expression level of ODF3B in the patients who had tumor size > 4cm was significant. Our data found the possible upstream transcription factor of ODF3B and PGGHG regulating their expression in biological pathways, mainly PPARG as the same upstream transcription factor affecting both genes. Moreover, our data revealed connection between protein networks of PGGHG and ODF3B. We found several main KEGG, biological process (BP), molecular function (MF), and cellular component (CC) for proteins involved in these networks. Conclusion PGGHG and ODF3B downregulation in RCC tumors suggests their possible tumor-suppressive role in RCC. More research is needed to determine the precise mechanism of their involvement in RCC pathogenesis.