The H3.3K27M oncohistone antagonizes reprogramming in Drosophila

Development proceeds by the activation of genes by transcription factors and the inactivation of others by chromatin-mediated gene silencing. In some cases development can be reversed or redirected by mis-expression of master regulator transcription factors. This must involve the activation of previously silenced genes, and such developmental aberrations are thought to underlie a variety of cancers. Here, we express the wing-specific Vestigial master regulator to reprogram the developing eye, and test the role of silencing in reprogramming using an H3.3K27M oncohistone mutation that dominantly inhibits histone H3K27 trimethylation. We find that expression of the oncohistone blocks eye-to-wing reprogramming. CUT&Tag chromatin profiling of mutant tissues shows that H3K27me3 domains are globally reduced with oncohistone expression, suggesting that previous developmental programs must be silenced for effective transformation. Strikingly, mis-expressed Vg and H3.3K27M synergize to stimulate overgrowth of eye tissue, a phenotype that resembles that of mutations in Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 components. Our results imply that growth dysregulation can result from the simple combination of crippled silencing and transcription factor mis-expression, an effect that may explain the origins of oncohistone-bearing cancers.