Multi-Omics Profiling to Assess Signaling Changes upon VHL Restoration and Identify Putative VHL Substrates in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines

The inactivation of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) is critical for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and VHL syndrome. VHL loss leads to the stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor alpha (HIF alpha) and other substrate proteins, which, together, drive various tumor-promoting pathways. There is inadequate molecular characterization of VHL restoration in VHL-defective ccRCC cells. The identities of HIF-independent VHL substrates remain elusive. We reinstalled VHL expression in 786-O and performed transcriptome, proteome and ubiquitome profiling to assess the molecular impact. The transcriptome and proteome analysis revealed that VHL restoration caused the downregulation of hypoxia signaling, glycolysis, E2F targets, and mTORC1 signaling, and the upregulation of fatty acid metabolism. Proteome and ubiquitome co-analysis, together with the ccRCC CPTAC data, enlisted 57 proteins that were ubiquitinated and downregulated by VHL restoration and upregulated in human ccRCC. Among them, we confirmed the reduction of TGFBI (ubiquitinated at K676) and NFKB2 (ubiquitinated at K72 and K741) by VHL re-expression in 786-O. Immunoprecipitation assay showed the physical interaction between VHL and NFKB2. K72 of NFKB2 affected NFKB2 stability in a VHL-dependent manner. Taken together, our study generates a comprehensive molecular catalog of a VHL-restored 786-O model and provides a list of putative VHL-dependent ubiquitination substrates, including TGFBI and NFKB2, for future investigation.

Automated summary

The restoration of VHL expression in ccRCC cells leads to the downregulation of hypoxia signaling, glycolysis, E2F targets, and mTORC1 signaling, and the upregulation of fatty acid metabolism. Through proteome and ubiquitome analysis, potential VHL-dependent ubiquitination substrates, including TGFBI and NFKB2, are identified.