Fig. 2

Negative correlation between miR-138–2 and Notch signaling pathway in renal cell carcinoma. a Identification of the differentially expressed microRNAs by taking advantage of 3 independent cohorts (GSE16441, GSE37989, and GSE71302). b GSEA analysis of the possible relationship between miR-138–2 and NOTCH signaling pathway based on TCGA KIRC cohort. c Inverse relationship between miR-138-5p/miR-138–2-3p and the members of NOTCH signaling pathway genes (NOTCH1 and HES1) in TCGA KIRC samples. d Expression analysis of miR-138-5p and miR-138–2-3p in TCGA cohort. e Kaplan–Meier analysis of the patients with ccRCC based on miR-138 expression level obtained from TCGA KIRC cohort. f qPCR analysis of miR-138-5p and miR-138–2-3p in 42 pairs of RCC tissues and their adjacent normal kidney ones. g Kaplan–Meier analysis based on miR-138-5p and miR-138–2-3p expression level in 42 pairs of ccRCC tissues and para-cancerous ones. The cut-off for Kaplan–Meier analysis was according to median mRNA expression level