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Gene & Protein in Disease Cullin family members as biomarkers in KIRC

Figure 2. The impact of cullin expression levels on KIRC patient survival by tumor grade (UALCAN). The results demonstrated statistically significant
associations for all eight cullin genes shown (p<0.001). These findings suggest that the expression of cullin family members may be involved in the
oncogenesis and development of KIRC.
Abbreviation: KIRC: Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma.

“mGolgi vesicle transport” (Figure 5A). A network of these 3.4. Immune cell infiltration related to cullin
enriched terms was constructed and visualized based on expression in KIRC
cluster and identifier (Figures 5B and C). Furthermore, a The tumor microenvironment (TME), comprising
protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was generated fluids, immune cells, stromal cells, extracellular matrix
and analyzed using the molecular complex detection components, and a variety of cytokines and chemokines,
(MCODE) algorithm within Metascape (Figure 5D-F). plays a crucial role in tumor growth and recurrence.
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The results identified a prominent MCODE component Using TIMER, we investigated the relationship between
consisting of ubiquitin E3 ligase complex members (CSN1, cullin family genes and immune cell infiltration in KIRC
CSN8, HRT1, SKP1, SKP2, CUL1, CUL2, and CUL3). (Figure 6). The results revealed that CUL1 and CUL2
These proteins were predominantly associated with key mRNA expressions were adversely associated with
biological processes, including proteasome-mediated, tumor purity. Moreover, we observed significant positive
ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic processes and associations between the expression of multiple cullin
proteasomal protein degradation pathways. family members and the infiltration of various immune

Volume 4 Issue 3 (2025) 5 doi: 10.36922/GPD025070014