SS18-SSX, the Oncogenic Fusion Protein in Synovial Sarcoma, Is a Cellular Context-Dependent Epigenetic Modifier

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 16;10(11):e0142991. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142991. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

The prevalence and specificity of unique fusion oncogenes are high in a number of soft tissue sarcomas (STSs). The close relationship between fusion genes and clinicopathological features suggests that a correlation may exist between the function of fusion proteins and cellular context of the cell-of-origin of each tumor. However, most STSs are origin-unknown tumors and this issue has not yet been investigated in detail. In the present study, we examined the effects of the cellular context on the function of the synovial sarcoma (SS)-specific fusion protein, SS18-SSX, using human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) containing the drug-inducible SS18-SSX gene. We selected the neural crest cell (NCC) lineage for the first trial of this system, induced SS18-SSX at various differentiation stages from PSCs to NCC-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), and compared its biological effects on each cell type. We found that the expression of FZD10, identified as an SS-specific gene, was induced by SS18-SSX at the PSC and NCC stages, but not at the MSC stage. This stage-specific induction of FZD10 correlated with stage-specific changes in histone marks associated with the FZD10 locus and also with the loss of the BAF47 protein, a member of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex. Furthermore, the global gene expression profile of hPSC-derived NCCs was the closest to that of SS cell lines after the induction of SS18-SSX. These results clearly demonstrated that the cellular context is an important factor in the function of SS18-SSX as an epigenetic modifier.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Line
  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / metabolism
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Epigenesis, Genetic
  • Frizzled Receptors / genetics
  • Frizzled Receptors / metabolism
  • Genetic Loci
  • Histones / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Neural Crest / cytology
  • Neural Crest / metabolism
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / metabolism*
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • RNA Interference
  • RNA, Small Interfering / metabolism
  • SMARCB1 Protein
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / genetics
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / metabolism
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / pathology
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • FZD10 protein, human
  • Frizzled Receptors
  • Histones
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • SMARCB1 Protein
  • SMARCB1 protein, human
  • SS18-SSX1 fusion protein
  • Transcription Factors

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (15H04956), and the Health and Labour Sciences Research Expenses for Commission, Applied Research for Innovative Treatment of Cancer from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H26-084) to JT. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.