Original ArticleDNA methylation profiling identifies PTRF/Cavin-1 as a novel tumor suppressor in Ewing sarcoma when co-expressed with caveolin-1

•Methylation profiling uncovers PTRF/Cavin-1 as a tumor suppressor in ES.•Restoration of CAV1 and PTRF by co-expression increases caveolae formation and cell death.•Cell death induction is p53-dependent via MDM2 phosphorylation.•PTRF re-expression and caveolae restoration could serve as new therapeutic options for ES.

Epigenetic modifications have been shown to be important in developmental tumors as Ewing sarcoma. We profiled the DNA methylation status of 15 primary tumors, 7 cell lines, 10 healthy tissues and 4 human mesenchymal stem cells lines samples using the Infinium Human Methylation 450K. Differential methylation analysis between Ewing sarcoma and reference samples revealed 1166 hypermethylated and 864 hypomethylated CpG sites (Bonferroni p < 0.05, δ-β-value with absolute difference of >0.20) corresponding to 392 and 470 genes respectively. Gene Ontology analysis of genes differentially methylated in Ewing sarcoma samples showed a significant enrichment of developmental genes. Membrane and cell signal genes were also enriched, among those, 11 were related to caveola formation. We identified differential hypermethylation of CpGs located in the body and S-Shore of the PTRF gene in Ewing sarcoma that correlated with its repressed transcriptional state. Reintroduction of PTRF/Cavin-1 in Ewing sarcoma cells revealed a role of this protein as a tumor suppressor. Restoration of caveolae in the membrane of Ewing sarcoma cells, by exogenously reintroducing PTRF, disrupts the MDM2/p53 complex, which consequently results in the activation of p53 and the induction of apoptosis.