Identification of DCAF11 as a Prognostic Biomarker in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Ferbian Milas Siswanto, Andrea Aprilia, Maria Dara Novi Handayani, Ida Bagus Gde Rama Wisesa, Annabella Dominique Setiadi, Donna Sherlyn Gunawan

Abstract

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common and lethal subtype of renal cell carcinoma and exhibits pronounced molecular heterogeneity that limits the prognostic accuracy of conventional clinicopathological parameters. DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 11 (DCAF11) is a substrate receptor of the CUL4-based E3 ubiquitin ligase complex that regulates cell cycle progression, genome stability, and stress-responsive signaling; however, its clinical relevance in ccRCC remains poorly understood. In this study, we systematically investigated the expression pattern, prognostic significance, immune relevance, and molecular networks associated with DCAF11 in ccRCC using integrative bioinformatics analyses. Transcriptomic and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and normal tissue references were analyzed, with independent validation performed using multiple GEO datasets. Our results demonstrate that DCAF11 is significantly dysregulated in ccRCC and that its expression varies across pathological stages. Reduced DCAF11 expression is associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes and correlates with genes involved in mismatch repair, DNA methylation, and immune cell infiltration. Functional enrichment and network analyses revealed that DCAF11-associated gene signatures are enriched in pathways related to cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, and immune-related signaling. Collectively, these findings identify DCAF11 as a prognostic biomarker in ccRCC and suggest that it may contribute to tumor progression through coordinated regulation of genomic stability and tumor–immune interactions.

 

Keywords: DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 11 (DCAF11); clear cell renal cell carcinoma; prognostic biomarker; bioinformatics analysis; signaling pathways.

 

DOI https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.53.3.9


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