Proteogenomic, Epigenetic, and Clinical Implications of Recurrent Aberrant Splice Variants in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Alternative mRNA splicing can be dysregulated in cancer, resulting in the generation of aberrant splice variants (SVs). Given the paucity of actionable genomic mutations in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), aberrant SVs may be an avenue to novel mechanisms of pathogenesis.

Objective: To identify and characterize aberrant SVs enriched in ccRCC.

Design, setting, and participants: Using RNA-seq data from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, we identified neojunctions uniquely expressed in ccRCC. Candidate SVs were then checked for expression across normal tissue in the Genotype-Tissue Expression Project and primary tumor tissue from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), and our institutional Total Cancer Care database.

Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Clinicopathologic, genomic, and survival data were available for all cohorts. Epigenetic data were available for the TCGA and CPTAC cohorts. Proteomic data were available for the CPTAC cohort. The association of aberrant SV expression with these variables was examined using the Kruskal-Wallis test, pairwise t test, Spearman correlation test, and Cox regression analysis.

Results and limitations: Our pipeline identified 16 ccRCC-enriched SVs. EGFR, HPCAL1-SV and RNASET2-SV expression was negatively correlated with gene-specific CpG methylation. We derived a survival risk score based primarily on the expression of five SVs (RNASET2, FGD1, PDZD2, COBLL1, and PTPN14), which was consistent and applicable across multiple cohorts on multivariate analysis. The splicing factor RBM4, which modulates splicing of HIF-1α, exhibited significantly lower expression at the protein level in the high-risk group, as defined by our SV-based score.

Conclusions: We describe 16 aberrant SVs enriched in ccRCC, many of which are associated with disease biology and/or clinical outcomes. This study provides a novel strategy for identifying and characterizing disease-specific aberrant SVs.

Patient summary: We describe a method to identify disease targets and biomarkers using transcriptomic analysis beyond somatic mutations or gene expression. Kidney tumors express unique splice variants that may provide additional prognostic information following surgery.

Keywords: Aberrant splicing; Clear cell renal cell carcinoma; Epigenetics; Proteomics.