Background. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common subtype of kidney cancer, which represents the 9th most frequently diagnosed cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of occurrence and development of ccRCC is indistinct. Therefore, the research aims to identify the hub biomarkers of ccRCC using numerous bioinformatics tools and functional experiments. Methods. The public data was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and the differently expressed genes (DEGs) between ccRCC and normal renal tissues were identified with GEO2R. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the DEGs was constructed, and hub genes were screened with cytoHubba. Then, ten ccRCC tumor samples and ten normal kidney tissues were obtained to verify the expression of hub genes with the RT-qPCR. Finally, the neural network model was constructed to verify the relationship among the genes. Results. A total of 251 DEGs and ten hub genes were identified. AURKB, CCNA2, TPX2, and NCAPG were highly expressed in ccRCC compared with renal tissue. With the increasing expression of AURKB, CCNA2, TPX2, and NCAPG, the pathological stage of ccRCC increased gradually (P<0.05). Patients with high expression of AURKB, CCNA2, TPX2, and NCAPG have a poor overall survival. After the verification of RT-qPCR, the expression of hub genes was same as the public data. And there were strong correlations between the AURKB, CCNA2, TPX2, and NCAPG with the verification of the neural network model. Conclusion. After the identification and verification, AURKB, CCNA2, TPX2, and NCAPG might be related to the occurrence and malignant progression of ccRCC.

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common male malignant tumors and the most common urological tumor. However, the molecular mechanism and role of PLK1 on bladder cancer were unclear. Therefore, the study aims to explore the potential part of the overall survival of bladder cancer through bioinformatics analysis. GSE121711 and GSE130598, from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The GEO2R screened differently expressed genes, and DAVID and Metascape were used for functional annotation. The cytoHubba made hub genes identification and expression. A total of 50 BC participants were recruited. After surgery, 50 BC tumor samples from BC patients and 50 adjacent standard bladder tissue samples were obtained. The RT-qPCR assay was performed to verify the expression of hub genes. The Kaplan–Meier Plotter analyzed the effect of hub gene expression for overall survival of BC. The compulsory module of Molecular Complex Detection tool analysis was shown, which included CDK1, TTK, AURKB, MELK, PLK1, and BUB1. And the six hub genes were up-regulated in the BC compared with the normal tissues. The relative expression levels of CDK1, TTK, AURKB, MELK, PLK1, and BUB1 were significantly higher in BC samples compared with the regular kidney tissue groups. The result demonstrated that CDK1, TTK, AURKB, MELK, PLK1, and BUB1 might be considered biomarkers for BC. Overall survival analysis showed that BC patients with high expression level of PLK1 had poorer overall survival times than those with low expression level ( P < .05). The expression levels of CDK1, TTK, AURKB, MELK, and BUB1 was not related to the overall survival of BC patients ( P > .05). The PLK1 gene might provide new ideas and evidence for bladder cancer research.

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Background: We investigated the efficacy of progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) and minimal stimulation using clomiphene citrate (CC) + gonadotropin (Gn) for in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) in advanced maternal age (AMA) women with poor ovarian response (POR) according to the Patient-Oriented Strategies Encompassing Individualized Oocyte Number (POSEIDON) criteria.Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using the data of AMA patients who had received IVF-ET due to a low ovarian reserve. The enrolled patients were screened according to the POSEIDON group 4 criteria. 102 patients were included in the study, including 52 in the PPOS group and 50 in the minimal stimulation group (who received CC + Gn). The duration of Gn administration, Gn dose, estradiol (E2), and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels on the day of trigger, the cancellation rate of the oocyte retrieval cycle, the number of oocytes retrieved, the number of metaphase II (MII) oocytes, and IVF laboratory outcomes during ovarian stimulation were compared between the 2 groups.Results: No significant differences were found in terms of age, infertility, body mass index (BMI), and basal follicle-stimulating hormone, LH, E2, AFC, and AMH between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). The duration of ovarian stimulation [(9.43±2.44) vs. (7.48±3.09) days, P<0.05] was significantly longer and the total Gn dose [(2,423.22±738.66) vs. (1,579.68±728.86) IU, P<0.05] were significantly higher in the PPOS group than the minimal stimulation group. The LH value on the day of trigger in the PPOS group (3.28 mIU/mL) was significantly lower than that in the minimal stimulation group (5.57 mIU/mL) (P<0.05). The number of oocytes retrieved, normal fertilization rate, number of good-quality embryos on day 3, number of transferable embryos, and number of frozen blastocysts did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). The proportion of MII oocytes was significantly higher in the PPOS group than the minimal stimulation group (94.05% vs. 81.40%, P<0.05).Conclusions: For patients in the POSEIDON group 4, PPOS effectively blocked the premature LH surge and increased the proportion of mature oocytes. Thus, it is a feasible ovulation stimulation protocol for AMA women with POR.