Exploring the Crosstalk of Immune Cells: The Impact of Dysregulated RUNX Family Genes in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

Background Abnormally expressed Runt-associated transcription factor (RUNX) family has been reported in multiple tumors. Nevertheless, the immunological role of RUNX family in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) remains unknown. Methods We studied the RNA-seq data regarding tumor and healthy subjects from several public databases in detail for evaluating the prognostic and immunological functions owned by three RUNX genes in cancer patients. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining served for detecting their expressions in tumor and normal samples. Results We observed that KIRC patients presented high expressions of RUNX1, RUNX2, and RUNX3. The expressions of three genes were validated by qRT-PCR, which was same as bioinformatical results. Prognostic analysis indicated that the overexpression of RUNX1 and RUNX2 negatively affects the outcomes in patients with KIRC. Related functional predictions indicated that the RUNXs and co-expression genes were significantly related to the immune response pathway. Moreover, three RUNX members were associated with immune infiltration cells and their related gene markers. The expression of RUNX family in several immune cells is positively or negatively correlated, and its dysregulation is obviously associated with the differential distribution of immune cells. RUNX family genes were abnormally expressed in KIRC patients, and were closely related to the crosstalk of immune cells. Conclusions Our findings may help to understand the pathogenesis and immunologic roles of the RUNX family in KIRC patients from new perspectives.