The aim of the present study was to explore and verify the potential mechanism of seminoma progression. Data on 132 RNA‑seq and 156 methylation sites from stage II/III and I seminoma specimens were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. An initial filter of |fold‑change| >2 and false discovery rate <0.05 were used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which were associated with differential methylation site genes; these genes were considered potential candidates for further investigation by survival analysis. Potassium voltage‑gated channel subfamily C member 1 (KCNC1) expression was verified in seminoma human tissues and three seminoma cell lines. The invasive, proliferative and apoptotic abilities of the human testicular tumor Ntera‑2 and normal human testis Hs1.Tes cell lines were assessed following aberrant KCNC1 expression. KCNC1 was identified as a DEG, in which hypermethylation inhibited its expression and it was associated with poor overall survival in patients with seminoma. The present results demonstrated that KCNC1 is negatively correlated with methylation. Due to the abnormal expression of KCNC1 in seminoma cells, it was suggested that KCNC1 could be used as a diagnostic indicator and therapeutic target for the progression of seminoma.
Keywords: K+ channels; KCNC1; dot blot; methylation; seminoma.