Abstract 478: EWS/FLI1 transcription is modulated by the PI3K pathway via SP1 in Ewing sarcoma

Abstract

Abstract Ewing sarcoma (ES) is the second most frequent bone cancer in childhood and it is characterized by the presence of the balanced t(11;22)(q24;q12) translocation in more than 85% of cases, generating a dysregulated transcription factor EWS/FLI1. ES belongs to small-round-blue-cell tumors and it is a very aggressive osteolytic cancer with early tendency for development of metastasis. Mostly it affects bones such as pelvis, femour and ribs but can also arise in soft tissues, mainly in adults. EWS/FLI1 is an essential oncogenic component of ES development which is necessary for tumor cell maintenance, through inappropriate regulation of target genes that are crucial for the fully malignant phenotype. Therefore, EWS/FLI1 represents an attractive therapeutic target. Screening of a small library of 153 targeted compounds has identified inhibitors of the PI3K pathway as main modulators of EWS/FLI1 activity and surprisingly this was due to an effect of the compound on EWS/FLI1 transcription. Indeed, treatment of four different ES cell lines with BEZ235 (PI3K-mTOR inhibitor) resulted in downregulation of EWS/FLI1 by 50% expression with subsequent modulation of target gene expression. Analysis of the EWS/FLI1 promoter region (-2239/+67) using various deletion constructs identified two 14bp minimal elements, named Del2 and Del23 region, as being important for EWS/FLI1 transcription. Based on in silico prediction and on in vivo data, we were able to predict 4 transcription factor candidates to bind this region and being responsive to PI3K regulation. Among these, SP1 was identified as modulator of EWS/FLI1 gene expression by siRNA. Various approches such as qRT-PCR, Western Blot and Immunofluorescence confirmed a reduction of EWS/FLI1 in Ewing cells when PI3Kαγδ and SP1 were depleted; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and Chromatine Immuno Precipitation (ChIP) both confirmed that the transcription factor SP1 is indeed binding to Del23 region of the EWS/FLI1 promoter. In summary, our results provide the very first insights on the transcriptional regulation of EWS/FLI1, an area that has not been investigated so far, and offer a molecular explanation for the known sensitivity of ES cell lines to PI3K inhibition. Citation Format: Chiara Giorgi, Alexander Boro, Laura A. Lopez-Garcia, Beat W. Schaefer, Felix K. Niggli. EWS/FLI1 transcription is modulated by the PI3K pathway via SP1 in Ewing sarcoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 478. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-478