Comprehensive analysis of the roles of fatty acid transport related proteins in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the clinical significance of fatty acid transport-related protein (FATRP) in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma(ccRCC). METHODS: RNA-seq data and corresponding clinical data of ccRCC were obtained from TCGA data portal. Seventeen key FATRP genes were comprehensively investigated using bioinformatics approaches to systematically investigate their expression patterns in ccRCC. In addition, the correlation between the expression levels of these genes and clinicopathological features in ccRCC was further explored. RESULTS: Among the 17 key FATRP genes, only FABP5, FABP6, and FABP7 could be regarded as ideal biomarkers for ccRCC, as they were highly expressed in ccRCC tumor tissues, and positively correlates with tumor progression and poor prognosis. FABP6 had the highest copy number variations (CNV) events (63.07 %), and ccRCC patients with FABP6 amplification had a better prognosis than the unaltered group. DNA methylation levels of FABP6 and FABP7 were downregulated in ccRCC tumor tissues compared to those in normal tissues. FABP5 showed the opposite results. Moreover, a novel four FATRP gene (FABP1, FABP5, FABP7, FATP2) and three clinical parameter (age, stage, and grade) prediction model was constructed and that comprised a significant independent prognostic signature. CONCLUSIONS: Only a few FATRP genes are upregulated in ccRCC tumor tissue, and positively correlate with tumor progression and poor prognosis. The accuracy of a single gene of these FATRP genes as predictors of progression and prognosis of ccRCC is limited. The performance of the novel prediction model proposed by this study was much better than that of any single gene.

Elevated serum FGF21 is an independent predictor for adverse events in hemodialysis patients from two large centers: a prospective cohort study.

Introduction: We explored the relationship and the predictive value of serum fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) with all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and pneumonia in hemodialysis (HD) patients.Methods: A total of 388 Chinese HD patients from two HD centers were finally enrolled in this prospective cohort study (registration number: ChiCTR 1900028249) between January 2018 and December 2018. Serum FGF21 was detected. Patients were followed up with a median period of 47 months to record the MACEs and pneumonia until death or 31 December 2022.Results: The incidence of all-cause mortality, MACEs and pneumonia in HD patients were 20.6%, 29.6%, and 34.8%, respectively. The optimal cutoffs for FGF21 to predict all-cause mortality, MACEs and pneumonia were 437.57 pg/mL, 216.99 pg/mL and 112.79 pg/mL. Multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that FGF21, as a categorical variable, was an independent predictor for all-cause mortality, MACEs and pneumonia (HR, 3.357, 95% CI, 2.128-5.295, p < 0.001; HR, 1.575, 95% CI, 1.046-2.371, p = 0.029; HR, 1.784; 95% CI, 1.124-2.830; p = 0.014, respectively). The survival nomogram, MACEs-free survival nomogram and pneumonia-free survival nomogram based on FGF21 constructed for individualized assessment of HD patients had a high C-index with 0.841, 0.706 and 0.734.Conclusion: Higher serum FGF21 is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality, MACEs and pneumonia in HD patients.

CDK12 is a potential biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and immunomodulation in pan-cancer.

Cell cycle-dependent protein kinase 12 (CDK12) plays a key role in a variety of carcinogenesis processes and represents a promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment. However, to date, there have been no systematic studies addressing its diagnostic, prognostic and immunological value across cancers. Here, we found that CDK12 was significantly upregulated in various types of cancers, and it expression increased with progression in ten cancer types, including breast cancer, cholangiocarcinoma and colon adenocarcinoma. Moreover, the ROC curves indicated that CDK12 showed diagnostic value in eight cancer types. High CDK12 expression was associated with poor prognosis in eight types of cancer, including low-grade glioma, mesothelioma, melanoma and pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, we conducted immunoassays to explore the exact mechanisms underlying CDK12-induced carcinogenesis, which revealed that increased expression of CDK12 allowed tumours to evade immune surveillance and upregulate immune checkpoint genes. Additionally, mutational studies have shown that amplification and missense mutations are the predominant mutational events affecting CDK12 across cancers. These findings establish CDK12 as a significant biological indicator of cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and immunotherapeutic targeting. Early surveillance and employment of CDK12 inhibitors, along with concomitant immunotherapy interventions, may enhance the clinical outcomes of cancer patients.