Identification of the LCOR-PLCL1 pathway that restrains lipid accumulation and tumor progression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the typical pathological subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), representing about 80% of RCC. Reprogramming of lipid metabolism is one of the nonnegligible pathogeneses in ccRCC. Currently, the underlying regulatory mechanisms of lipid metabolism in ccRCC remain inadequately understood. In this study, we performed bioinformatics analyses and experiments both <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> to explore the biological functions and specific mechanisms of the ligand dependent nuclear receptor corepressor LCOR in ccRCC. Mechanistically, RUNX1 was a transcriptional suppressor of PLCL1, LCOR could interact with RUNX1 to relieve RUNX1-mediated repression of PLCL1, leading to increased PLCL1 expression, which, in turn, inhibited the tumor progression and lipid accumulation in ccRCC. Furthermore, PLCL1 decreased lipid accumulation through UCP1-mediated lipid browning and facilitated tumor apoptosis by activating p38 phosphorylation. In conclusion, the LCOR-RUNX1-PLCL1 axis provides a novel molecular mechanism underlying the progression and lipid storage of ccRCC. LCOR modulation represents a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment in ccRCC.