Abstract 2198: A functional ETS/E2F module in cancers expressing ETS fusion genes

Abstract

Abstract Ewing's sarcoma (ESFT) is a highly aggressive pediatric cancer characterized by the chimeric ETS transcription factor EWS-FLI1 as a result of a chromosomal translocation. By whole genome gene expression and ChIP-seq analyses we obtained evidence that EWS-FLI1 directly binds to 50% of E2F target genes in ESFT. Furthermore, several E2F factors were themselves found to be directly regulated by EWS-FLI1. Therefore, we studied the functional interaction of EWS-FLI1 with E2F. Ten arbitrarily chosen EWS-FLI1/E2F candidate targets including E2F3, RAD51, and ATAD2 were chosen for an in-depth promoter activity study by luciferase reporter gene assays in combination with mutation analysis of transcription factor binding motifs. By ChIP-PCR we confirmed direct EWS-FLI1 promoter binding, and observed decreased reporter activity for all ten studied promoters upon knockdown of EWS-FLI1 by RNAi. Furthermore, the study of promoter occupancy by different E2F family members revealed that silencing of EWS-FLI1 results in the exchange of EWS-FLI1 induced, activating E2F3 by constitutively expressed repressive E2F4 on the promoters of there jointly regulated target genes. Importantly, testing E2F3 promoter occupancy on wildtype and ETS motif mutated promoter constructs in ESFT cell lines revealed that binding of E2F3 to its target promoters is dependent on an intact ETS binding site. Mutation of the ETS motif resulted in reduced binding of E2F3. These data are consistent with a model in which EWS-FLI1 actively recruits an activating E2F factor thereby replacing a repressing E2F factor and in which EWS-FLI1 binding is essential for E2F binding. Strikingly, the functional E2F/ETS transcriptional module detected in ESFT for the chimeric ETS factor EWS-FLI1 was found to be also relevant to TMPRSS2-ERG expressing prostate cancer cells, but not active in HeLa cells. Supported by grants from the Austrian Science Fund (P22328-B09), and the European Comission (EU-FP7 STREP 259348). R. Schwentner is a recipient of a DOC-fFORTE-fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2198. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2198