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The sensitivity of the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours to fenretinide-induced cell death is increased by EWS-Fli1-dependent modulation of p38MAPK activity

Oncogene volume 27, pages 985–996 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours (ESFT) are small round cell tumours characterized by the non-random EWS–ETS gene rearrangements. We have previously demonstrated that ESFT are highly sensitive to fenretinide-induced death, effected in part through a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent pathway. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the sensitivity of ESFT cells to fenretinide-induced cell death is decreased following downregulation of the oncogenic fusion protein EWS-Fli1; siRNA targeting EWS-Fli1 attenuated fenretinide-induced cell death in cell lines expressing EWS-Fli1, but not EWS-ERG. This decrease in cell death was independent of the level of ROS produced following exposure to fenretinide, but was effected through EWS-Fli1-dependent modulation of p38MAPK activity. Furthermore, inhibition of p38MAPK activity and knockdown of EWS-Fli1 reduced fenretinide-induced mitochondrial permeabilization, cytochrome c release, caspase and PARP cleavage, consistent with the hypothesis that p38MAPK is critical for activation of the death cascade by fenretinide in ESFT cells. These data demonstrate that expression of EWS–Fli1 enhances fenretinide-induced cell death in ESFT and that this is effected at least in part through modulation of p38MAPK activity.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Mr Colin Johnston for statistical advice, and to Mrs Andrea Berry for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Candlelighter's Trust, United Kingdom (SAB), MJP Cancer Care Trust Fund, United Kingdom (SAB) and University of Leeds Research Scholarship (SSM).

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  1. S S Myatt

    Present address: 2Current address: Cancer Research-UK, Department of Oncology, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK.,

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  1. Candlelighter's Children's Cancer Research Laboratory, Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre, St James's University Hospital, Leeds, UK

    S S Myatt & S A Burchill

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Correspondence to S A Burchill.

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Myatt, S., Burchill, S. The sensitivity of the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours to fenretinide-induced cell death is increased by EWS-Fli1-dependent modulation of p38MAPK activity. Oncogene 27, 985–996 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210705

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