Human EWS-FLI protein recapitulates in Drosophila the neomorphic functions that induce Ewing sarcoma tumorigenesis

Abstract Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is a human malignant tumor typically driven by the EWS-FLI fusion protein. A paucity of genetically modified animal models, partially owed to the high toxicity of EWS-FLI, hinders research on EwS. Here we report a spontaneous mutant variant, EWS-FLI1FS, that circumvents the toxicity issue in Drosophila. Through proteomic and genomic analyses we show that human EWS-FLI1FS interacts with the Drosophila homologues of EWS-FLI human protein partners, including core subunits of chromatin remodeling complexes, the transcription machinery, and the spliceosome; brings about a massive dysregulation of transcription that affects a significant fraction of known targets of EWS-FLI in human cells; and modulates splicing. We also show that EWS-FLI1FS performs in Drosophila the two major neomorphic activities that it is known to have in human cells: activation of transcription from GGAA microsatellites and out competition of ETS transcription factors. We conclude that EWS-FLI1FS reproduces in Drosophila the known oncogenic activities of EWS-FLI that drive Ewing sarcoma tumorigenesis in humans. These results open up an unprecedented opportunity to investigate EWS-FLI's oncogenic pathways in vivo in a genetically tractable organism.