ObjectiveTo study whether there is expression of the alternative splice variants of TCF19, a cell growth regulatory gene, in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tissues and their relationship with the development of ccRCC.MethodsAlternative Splicing Database was used to predict the possible alternative splice variants of TCF19.Specific primers for amplifying the 5 predicted variants of TCF19 were designed and used to examine the corresponding variants in 32 ccRCC tissues and normal tissues adjacent to the tumors by RT-PCR technique.The amplicons were then cloned and sequenced.Quantitative RT-PCR was used to detect the expression differences of the variants between the primary renal cell carcinoma and adjacent tissues.ResultsTwo new isoforms of TCF19 (TCF19-1 and TCF19-3) were identified in the ccRCC and the adjacent tissues.RT-PCR results showed that TCF19-1 expression was significantly higher in the primary ccRCC tissues than that in the adjacent normal tissues (P<0.001).And the expression of TCF19-3 in the primary tumor was only slightly higher than that in the adjacent tissues (P=0.082).ConclusionThis study for the first time identifies the existence of two alternative splice isoforms of TCF-19, TCF19-1 and TCF19-3, in human ccRCC tissues, and the expression of TCF19-1 might be related to the development of ccRCC.