CRYL1 is a Potential Prognostic Biomarker of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Correlated with Immune Infiltration and Cuproptosis.

Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a widespread urogenital neoplasm. However, the therapeutic efficacy of these methods is unsatisfactory. In-depth screening of biomarkers could aid early diagnosis and therapy and predict patient prognosis.

Methods: The GEO datasets were selected with specific criteria. Differentially expressed gene (DEG), weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), protein-protein interaction, LASSO, random forest, and Cox regression analyses were applied to identify the independent prognostic biomarkers. Survival analysis, correlation with clinical features, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), GO enrichment, immune infiltration analysis, and correlation with cuproptosis-related genes were carried out to determine the prognostic value and possible molecular mechanisms of the TSVR. Wound healing assays, transwell assays, cell colony formation experiments, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis were used to validate the functional attributes of CRYL1.

Results: Four GEO datasets were included to screen for hub genes. DEG combined with WGCNA showed a key module with 300 genes having the strongest correlation with "survival state" (R2 = -0.24 and P = 7e-8); six genes were identified by LASSO, random forest, and Cytoscape. Finally, CRYL1 (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.01, P < 0.001) was selected as an independent prognostic biomarker. The higher CRYL1 expression group had better DFS and overall survival (OS). GSEA demonstrated that the CRYL1-related DEGs were enriched mainly in the metabolism of sugar, fat, and amino acids. CRYL1 is positively correlated with FDX1 and the LIAS pathway, which are important molecule involved in cuproptosis. CRYL1 affects the infiltration abundance of four immune cells and can predict a positive OS. Wound healing, transwell, cell colony formation, and flow cytometry assays demonstrated that CRYL1 silencing enhances migration and proliferation and leads to a decreased apoptotic ratio. IHC analysis suggested that CRYL1 was highly expressed in adjacent tissues.

Conclusions: CRYL1 is a robust predictive marker for clinicopathological characteristics and survival status in ccRCC patients.