Fig. 4

Gene correlation analyses suggested that VSX1 might be an essential upstream transcriptional regulator. a Gene correlation analyses between VSX1 and other differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ccRCC from TCGA via Spearman’s correlation coefficient. b GO and KEGG pathway analyses were conducted using VSX1-correlated genes. c − d The expression levels of VSX1-correlated genes positively correlated with upregulated VSX1 by heatmap and Pearson’s correlation analyses. e − f The expression level of VSX1-correlated genes was higher in ccRCC tissue in the TCGA database. g − j mRNA expression of VSX1-correlated genes was analyzed in different pathological stages for ccRCC in the TCGA database. Paired or unpaired Student’s t-tests were used to assess the significance of differences. Spearman’s test and Pearson’s test were used to verify the relationship between DEGs and VSX1. Data were presented as the mean ± standard deviation.*P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, and *** P < 0.001