Expression of PDP2 in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma and its relationship with prognosis

CHEN Zhikai; XIE Zhouzhou; HUANG Yueting; ZHONG Weifeng; ZHANG Heyuan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-0460.2025.02.008

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase catalytic subunit 2(PDP2)in clear cell renal cell carcinoma(KIRC)and its impact on the prognosis of KIRC patients.The clinical significance of PDP2 as a potential biomarker was explored,along with the potential underlying molecular mechanisms.Methods The KIRC dataset from the Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)was analyzed to examine the differential expression of PDP2 in KIRC and perform survival analysis.The findings were further validated using the GEPIA2 and human protein atlas(HPA)databases.A nomogram was constructed to assess the predictive capability of PDP2 for KIRC prognosis.Gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA)was used to explore potential molecular mechanisms associated with PDP2.Results PDP2 expression was significantly reduced in KIRC tissues(P＜0.001).The expression of PDP2 was related to the age,stage,histological grading,and T staging of KIRC patients,that is,with the progression of age,stage,histological grading and T staging,the expression of PDP2 significantly decreased(P＜0.05).The low expression of PDP2 was associated with poor survival prognosis(P＜0.001).Moreover,Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that PDP2 expression was identified as an independent prognostic factor for KIRC patients(HR=0.537,95％CI:0.399-0.722,P＜0.001).The calibration curve indicates that the 1,3,and 5-year survival rates predicted by nomogram were basically consistent with the actual survival rates.The prognostic prediction ability of PDP2 was promising,with the area under the curve(AUC)of 0.856,0.796,and 0.752 for 1-year,3-year,and 5-year overall survival rates,respectively.GSEA analysis revealed that PDP2 expression was significantly correlated with pathways involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle,hypoxia,and inflammatory factors in KIRC.Conclusion Low expression of PDP2 is associated with poor prognosis in KIRC patients.PDP2 may serve as a novel therapeutic target for KIRC and improve treatment evaluation and management.