TY - JOUR
T1 - Tumor-specific isoform switch of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 underlies the mesenchymal and malignant phenotypes of clear cell renal cell carcinomas
AU - Zhao, Qi
AU - Caballero, Otavia L.
AU - Davis, Ian D.
AU - Jonasch, Eric
AU - Tamboli, Pheroze
AU - Yung, W. K.Alfred
AU - Weinstein, John N.
AU - Shaw, Kenna
AU - Strausberg, Robert L.
AU - Yao, Jun
PY - 2013/5/1
Y1 - 2013/5/1
N2 - Purpose: We aim to identify tumor-specific alternative splicing events having potential applications in the early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy for cancers. Experimental Design: Weanalyzed RNA-seq data on 470 clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) and 68 kidney tissues to identify tumor-specific alternative splicing events. We further focused on the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) isoform switch and characterized ccRCCs expressing different FGFR2 isoforms by integrated analyses using genomic data from multiple platforms and tumor types. Results: We identified 113 top candidate alternatively spliced genes in ccRCC. Prominently, the FGFR2 gene transcript switched from the normal IIIb isoform ("epithelial") to IIIc isoform ("mesenchymal") in nearly 90% of ccRCCs. This switch is kidney specific as it was rarely observed in other cancers. The FGFR2-IIIb ccRCCs show a transcriptome and methylome resembling those from normal kidney, whereas FGFR2-IIIc ccRCCs possess elevated hypoxic and mesenchymal expression signatures. Clinically, FGFR2-IIIb ccRCCs are smaller in size, of lower tumor grade, and associated with longer patient survival. Gene set enrichment and DNA copy number analyses indicated that FGFR2-IIIb ccRCCs are closely associated with renal oncocytomas and chromophobe RCCs (chRCC). A reexamination of tumor histology by pathologists identified FGFR2-IIIb tumors as chRCCs and clear cell papillary RCCs (ccpRCC). Conclusions: FGFR2 IIIb RCCs represent misdiagnosed ccRCC cases, suggesting FGFR2 isoform testing can be used in the diagnosis of RCC subtypes. The finding of a prevalent isoform switch of FGFR2 in a tissue-specific manner holds promise for the future development of FGFR2-IIIc as a distinct early detection biomarker and therapeutic target for ccRCC.
AB - Purpose: We aim to identify tumor-specific alternative splicing events having potential applications in the early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy for cancers. Experimental Design: Weanalyzed RNA-seq data on 470 clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) and 68 kidney tissues to identify tumor-specific alternative splicing events. We further focused on the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) isoform switch and characterized ccRCCs expressing different FGFR2 isoforms by integrated analyses using genomic data from multiple platforms and tumor types. Results: We identified 113 top candidate alternatively spliced genes in ccRCC. Prominently, the FGFR2 gene transcript switched from the normal IIIb isoform ("epithelial") to IIIc isoform ("mesenchymal") in nearly 90% of ccRCCs. This switch is kidney specific as it was rarely observed in other cancers. The FGFR2-IIIb ccRCCs show a transcriptome and methylome resembling those from normal kidney, whereas FGFR2-IIIc ccRCCs possess elevated hypoxic and mesenchymal expression signatures. Clinically, FGFR2-IIIb ccRCCs are smaller in size, of lower tumor grade, and associated with longer patient survival. Gene set enrichment and DNA copy number analyses indicated that FGFR2-IIIb ccRCCs are closely associated with renal oncocytomas and chromophobe RCCs (chRCC). A reexamination of tumor histology by pathologists identified FGFR2-IIIb tumors as chRCCs and clear cell papillary RCCs (ccpRCC). Conclusions: FGFR2 IIIb RCCs represent misdiagnosed ccRCC cases, suggesting FGFR2 isoform testing can be used in the diagnosis of RCC subtypes. The finding of a prevalent isoform switch of FGFR2 in a tissue-specific manner holds promise for the future development of FGFR2-IIIc as a distinct early detection biomarker and therapeutic target for ccRCC.
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U2 - 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-3708
DO - 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-3708
M3 - Article
C2 - 23444225
AN - SCOPUS:84877099987
SN - 1078-0432
VL - 19
SP - 2460
EP - 2472
JO - Clinical Cancer Research
JF - Clinical Cancer Research
IS - 9
ER -