The SWI/SNF complex member SMARCB1 supports lineage fidelity in kidney cancer

Lineage switching can induce therapy resistance in cancer. Yet, how lineage fidelity is maintained and how it can be lost remain poorly understood. Here, we have used CRISPR-Cas9-based genetic screening to demonstrate that loss of SMARCB1, a member of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, can confer an advantage to clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cells upon inhibition of the renal lineage factor PAX8. Lineage factor inhibition-resistant ccRCC cells formed tumors with morphological features, but not molecular markers, of neuroendocrine differentiation. SMARCB1 inactivation led to large-scale loss of kidney-specific epigenetic programs and restoration of proliferative capacity through the adoption of new dependencies on factors that represent rare essential genes across different cancers. We further developed an analytical approach to systematically characterize lineage fidelity using large-scale CRISPR-Cas9 data. An understanding of the rules that govern lineage switching could aid the development of more durable lineage factor-targeted and other cancer therapies.