Tetraploidization of Immortalized Myoblasts Induced by Cell Fusion Drives Myogenic Sarcoma Development with <i>DMD</i> Deletion

• Main Authors: Candice Merle, Noémie Thébault, Sophie LeGuellec, Jessica Baud, Gaëlle Pérot, Tom Lesluyes, Lucile Delespaul, Lydia Lartigue, Frédéric Chibon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Cancers
• Subjects: cell fusion; genomic instability; sarcoma; dystrophin
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/12/5/1281

Whole-genome doubling is the second most frequent genomic event, after <i>TP53</i> alterations, in advanced solid tumors and is associated with poor prognosis. Tetraploidization step will lead to aneuploidy and chromosomic rearrangements. The mechanism leading to tetraploid cells is important since endoreplication, abortive cytokinesis and cell fusion could have distinct consequences. Unlike processes based on duplication, cell fusion involves the merging of two different genomes, epigenomes and cellular states. Since it is involved in muscle differentiation, we hypothesized that it could play a role in the oncogenesis of myogenic cancers. Spontaneous hybrids, but not their non-fused immortalized myoblast counterparts they are generated from, induced tumors in mice. Unstable upon fusion, the hybrid genome evolved from initial mitosis to tumors with a highly rearranged genome. This genome remodeling finally produced targeted <i>DMD</i> deletions associated with replicative stress, isoform relocalization and metastatic spreading, exactly as observed in human myogenic sarcomas. In conclusion, these results draw a model of myogenic oncogenesis in which cell fusion and oncogene activation combine to produce pleomorphic aggressive sarcomas.