miRNA expression in primary renal carcinomas, subgrouped based on HIF1α expression

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common type of renal cancer is often associated with inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene von-Hippel Lindau (VHL), leading to stable expression of hypoxia inducible factors, HIF1α and HIF2α. Although HIF1α functions as a tumor suppressor gene, majority of ccRCCs constitutively express HIF1α, stratifying VHL-deficient ccRCCs into groups which express either both HIF1α and HIF2α (H1H2) or HIF2α exclusively (H2). MicroRNA (miRNA) profiling performed in these two ccRCC subtypes to identify novel molecular mechanisms. ccRCCs were classified into H1H2 and H2 subtypes by immunohostochemical staining of H1F1α and H1F2α expression. Five H1H2 tumor samples and eight H2 tumor samples were used for the study. Matched adjacent normal renal tissues were used as respective controls.