Dosage of the fusion transcription factor PAX3::FOXO1 controls cell state in rhabdomyosarcoma [ATAC-Seq]

We previously established a human myoblast system for inducible expression of PAX3::FOXO1. In the current study, we modulate PAX3::FOXO1 protein expression to understand the epigenetic and phenotypic functions at different PAX3::FOXO1 levels.

Proliferative and oncogenic outcomes depend on PAX3::FOXO1 dosage in this system with transformation dominant at intermediate levels and growth suppression dominant at high levels. After prolonged PAX3::FOXO1 expression, there is dosage-dependent heterogeneity in single cell gene expression profiles. We observe a dosage-specific effect for PAX3::FOXO1 chromatin recognition and identify factors that modulate PAX3::FOXO1 chromatin binding.