Endocrine Abstracts

Clear renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a highly vascularized and proliferative tumor. ccRCC can be sporadic or familiar, usually associated with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene mutations. VHL protein is part of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex that regulates hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). When a defective and inactive VHL protein is produced, HIF is not degraded, resulting in over-expression of hypoxia related genes including erythropoietin (EPO) and vascular endothelial growth fa...