Therapeutic Targeting Ewing Sarcoma through Inhibition of the FACT Complex (RNA-Seq I)
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ABSTRACT: EWS/ETS fusion transcription factors, most commonly EWSR1-FLI1, drive initiation and progression of Ewing sarcoma (EwS), a highly aggressive childhood cancer of bone and soft tissues. Even though direct targeting EWSR1-FLI1 is a formidable challenge, epigenetic or transcriptional modulators have been recently proved to be promising therapeutic targets for indirectly disrupting its expression and/or function. Here, we performed transcriptome and functional genomics dataset analyses, and combined with small molecule screening of EwS lines to identify novel epigenetic/transcriptional-targeted therapeutic strategies. SSRP1 and SUPT16H, two subunits of the Facilitates Chromatin Transcription (FACT) complex, are both found to be EWSR1-FLI1-induced essential oncogenes in EwS. The FACT-targeted drug CBL0137 exhibits potent therapeutic efficacy against multiple EwS preclinical models in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, the FACT complex and EWS-FLI1 form oncogenic positive feedback loop via mutual transcriptional regulation and activation, and cooperatively promote cell cycle/DNA replication process and IGF1R-PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway to drive EwS oncogenesis. The FACT inhibitor drug CBL0137 effectively targets the EWSR1-FLI1-FACT circuit, resulting in transcriptional disruption of EWS-FLI1, SSRP1 and their downstream effector oncogenic signatures. Our study illustrates a crucial role of the FACT complex in facilitating the expression and function of EWSR1-FLI1 and demonstrates FACT inhibition as a novel therapeutic strategy against EwS via indirect targeting the oncogenic fusion TF, providing preclinical support for adding EwS to CBL0137’s future clinical trials.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE195803 | GEO | 2022/12/31
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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