Phase separation of YAP fusion proteins drives supratentorial ependymoma I

HIPPO-YAP/TAZ signaling has been implicated in supratentorial ependymoma formation from neural progenitor cells (NPC) in the brain, however, the underlying mechanisms to trigger the neural progenitor cell transformation remains elusive. Here, we uncover that patient-derived tumorigenic YAP-fusion proteins (YAP-MAMLD1 and C11ORF95-YAP) promote ependymoma tumorigenesis through forming liquid-liquid phase-separated condensates. Intrinsically disordered regions (IDR) in the fusion proteins promote oligomerization of YAP-transcriptional co-activators and self-assembly of nuclear puncta-like membrane-less organelles. Phase separation of YAP-fusion proteins further facilitates the compartmentalization of transcriptional coactivators, BRD4 and MED1, resulting in pervasive enhancer landscape changes and exclusion of transcriptional repressors such as PRC2 complexes. YAP-fusion proteins-induced nuclear puncta recruit RNA polymerase II to promote transcriptional bursting of multiple oncogenic pathways. Moreover, we show that IDR-mediated phase separation is necessary for YAP-fusion protein-induced tumor formation. Distinct YAP fusion-proteins identified in other human tumors also encompass IDR features. Together, our data suggest that IDR-mediated phase separation is an integral component of YAP-fusion protein-induced tumorigenesis and might serve as a therapeutic target in supratentorial ependymoma. RNA-seq and ChIP-seq