Expression of the EWS/FLI-1 oncogene in murine primary bone-derived cells Results in EWS/FLI-1-dependent, ewing sarcoma-like tumors

Cancer Res. 2005 Oct 1;65(19):8698-705. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-05-1704.

Abstract

Ewing sarcoma is the second most common malignant pediatric bone tumor. Over 80% of Ewing sarcoma contain the oncogene EWS/FLI-1, which encodes the EWS/FLI-1 oncoprotein, a hybrid transcription factor comprised of NH2-terminal sequences from the RNA-binding protein EWS and the DNA-binding and COOH-terminal regions of the Ets transcription factor FLI-1. Although numerous genes are dysregulated by EWS/FLI-1, advances in Ewing sarcoma cancer biology have been hindered by the lack of an animal model because of EWS/FLI-1-mediated cytotoxicity. In this study, we have developed conditions for the isolation and propagation of murine primary bone-derived cells (mPBDC) that stably express EWS/FLI-1. Early-passage EWS/FLI-1 mPBDCs were immortalized in culture but inefficient at tumor induction, whereas later-passage cells formed sarcomatous tumors in immunocompetent syngeneic mice. Murine EWS/FLI-1 tumors contained morphologically primitive cells that lacked definitive lineage markers. Molecular characterization of murine EWS/FLI-1 tumors revealed that some but not all had acquired a novel, clonal in-frame p53 mutation associated with a constitutive loss of p21 expression. Despite indications that secondary events facilitated EWS/FLI-1 mPBDC tumorigenesis, cells remained highly dependent on EWS/FLI-1 for efficient transformation in clonogenic assays. This Ewing sarcoma animal model will be a useful tool for dissecting the molecular pathogenesis of Ewing sarcoma and provides rationale for the broader use of organ-specific progenitor cell populations for the study of human sarcoma.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Bone Neoplasms / genetics
  • Bone Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Bone Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Cycle / physiology
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / metabolism
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / pathology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Gene Expression
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / biosynthesis*
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1 / biosynthesis*
  • Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1 / genetics
  • RNA-Binding Protein EWS / biosynthesis*
  • RNA-Binding Protein EWS / genetics
  • Sarcoma, Ewing / genetics
  • Sarcoma, Ewing / metabolism*
  • Sarcoma, Ewing / pathology

Substances

  • Fli1 protein, mouse
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
  • Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1
  • RNA-Binding Protein EWS