Reconstruction of Ewing Sarcoma Developmental Context from Mass-Scale Transcriptomics Reveals Characteristics of EWSR1-FLI1 Permissibility
Henry E. Miller, Aparna Gorthi, Nicklas Bassani, Liesl A. Lawrence, Brian S. Iskra, Alexander J.R. Bishop
Abstract
, is toxic or unstable in most primary tissues. Consequently, attempts to model Ewing sarcomagenesis have proven unsuccessful thus far, highlighting the need to identify the cellular features which permit stable EWSR1-FLI1 expression. By re-analyzing publicly available RNA-Sequencing data with manifold learning techniques, we uncovered a group of Ewing-like tissues belonging to a developmental trajectory between pluripotent, neuroectodermal, and mesodermal cell states. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EWSR1-FLI1 expression levels control the activation of these developmental trajectories within Ewing sarcoma cells. Subsequent analysis and experimental validation demonstrated that the capability to resolve R-loops and mitigate replication stress are probable prerequisites for stable EWSR1-FLI1 expression in primary tissues. Taken together, our results demonstrate how EWSR1-FLI1 hijacks developmental gene programs and advances our understanding of Ewing sarcomagenesis.