Vascular Tumor Recapitulated in Endothelial Cells from hiPSCs Engineered to Express the SERPINE1-FOSB Translocation

Summary

Chromosomal translocations are prevalent among soft tissue tumors, including those of the vasculature such as pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma (PHE). PHE shows endothelial cell (EC) features and has a tumor-specific t(7;19)(q22;q13) SERPINE1-FOSB translocation, but is difficult to study as no primary tumor cell lines have yet been derived. Here, we engineer the PHE chromosomal translocation into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) using CRISPR/Cas9 and differentiate these into ECs (hiPSC-ECs) to address this. Comparison of parental with PHE hiPSC-ECs shows (1) elevated expression of FOSB, (2) higher proliferation and more tube formation but lower endothelial barrier function, (3) invasive growth and abnormal vessel formation in mice after transplantation, and (4) specific transcriptome alterations reflecting PHE and indicating PI3K-Akt and MAPK signaling pathways as possible therapeutic targets. The modified hiPSC-ECs thus recapitulate functional features of PHE and demonstrate how these translocation models can be used to understand tumorigenic mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets. © 2020 The Author(s).

Authors van IJzendoorn DGP, Salvatori DCF, Cao X, van den Hil F, Briaire-de Bruijn IH, de Jong D, Mei H, Mummery CL, Szuhai K, Bovée JVMG, Orlova VV
Journal Cell reports. Medicine
Publication Date 2020 Dec 22;1(9):100153
PubMed 33377124
PubMed Central PMC7762773
DOI 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100153

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