EBioMedicine (Jun 2023)

Comparative analyses define differences between BHD-associated renal tumour and sporadic chromophobe renal cell carcinomaResearch in context

  • Ryosuke Jikuya,
  • Todd A. Johnson,
  • Kazuhiro Maejima,
  • Jisong An,
  • Young-Seok Ju,
  • Hwajin Lee,
  • Kyungsik Ha,
  • WooJeung Song,
  • Youngwook Kim,
  • Yuki Okawa,
  • Shota Sasagawa,
  • Yuki Kanazashi,
  • Masashi Fujita,
  • Seiya Imoto,
  • Taku Mitome,
  • Shinji Ohtake,
  • Go Noguchi,
  • Sachi Kawaura,
  • Yasuhiro Iribe,
  • Kota Aomori,
  • Tomoyuki Tatenuma,
  • Mitsuru Komeya,
  • Hiroki Ito,
  • Yusuke Ito,
  • Kentaro Muraoka,
  • Mitsuko Furuya,
  • Ikuma Kato,
  • Satoshi Fujii,
  • Haruka Hamanoue,
  • Tomohiko Tamura,
  • Masaya Baba,
  • Toshio Suda,
  • Tatsuhiko Kodama,
  • Kazuhide Makiyama,
  • Masahiro Yao,
  • Brian M. Shuch,
  • Christopher J. Ricketts,
  • Laura S. Schmidt,
  • W. Marston Linehan,
  • Hidewaki Nakagawa,
  • Hisashi Hasumi

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 92
p. 104596

Abstract

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Summary: Background: Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome, caused by germline alteration of folliculin (FLCN) gene, develops hybrid oncocytic/chromophobe tumour (HOCT) and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC), whereas sporadic ChRCC does not harbor FLCN alteration. To date, molecular characteristics of these similar histological types of tumours have been incompletely elucidated. Methods: To elucidate renal tumourigenesis of BHD-associated renal tumours and sporadic renal tumours, we conducted whole genome sequencing (WGS) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) of sixteen BHD-associated renal tumours from nine unrelated BHD patients, twenty-one sporadic ChRCCs and seven sporadic oncocytomas. We then compared somatic mutation profiles with FLCN variants and RNA expression profiles between BHD-associated renal tumours and sporadic renal tumours. Findings: RNA-seq analysis revealed that BHD-associated renal tumours and sporadic renal tumours have totally different expression profiles. Sporadic ChRCCs were clustered into two distinct clusters characterized by L1CAM and FOXI1 expressions, molecular markers for renal tubule subclasses. Increased mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number with fewer variants was observed in BHD-associated renal tumours compared to sporadic ChRCCs. Cell-of-origin analysis using WGS data demonstrated that BHD-associated renal tumours and sporadic ChRCCs may arise from different cells of origin and second hit FLCN alterations may occur in early third decade of life in BHD patients. Interpretation: These data further our understanding of renal tumourigenesis of these two different types of renal tumours with similar histology. Funding: This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grants, RIKEN internal grant, and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research.

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