scholarly journals Pits and CtBP Control Tissue Growth in Drosophila melanogaster with the Hippo Pathway Transcription Repressor Tgi

Genetics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 215 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-128
Author(s):  
Joseph H. A. Vissers ◽  
Lucas G. Dent ◽  
Colin M. House ◽  
Shu Kondo ◽  
Kieran F. Harvey

The Hippo pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling network that regulates organ size, cell fate, and tumorigenesis. In the context of organ size control, the pathway incorporates a large variety of cellular cues, such as cell polarity and adhesion, into an integrated transcriptional response. The central Hippo signaling effector is the transcriptional coactivator Yorkie, which controls gene expression in partnership with different transcription factors, most notably Scalloped. When it is not activated by Yorkie, Scalloped can act as a repressor of transcription, at least in part due to its interaction with the corepressor protein Tgi. The mechanism by which Tgi represses transcription is incompletely understood, and therefore we sought to identify proteins that potentially operate together with Tgi. Using an affinity purification and mass-spectrometry approach we identified Pits and CtBP as Tgi-interacting proteins, both of which have been linked to transcriptional repression. Both Pits and CtBP were required for Tgi to suppress the growth of the Drosophila melanogaster eye and CtBP loss suppressed the undergrowth of yorkie mutant eye tissue. Furthermore, as reported previously for Tgi, overexpression of Pits repressed transcription of Hippo pathway target genes. These findings suggest that Tgi might operate together with Pits and CtBP to repress transcription of genes that normally promote tissue growth. The human orthologs of Tgi, CtBP, and Pits (VGLL4, CTBP2, and IRF2BP2) have previously been shown to physically and functionally interact to control transcription, implying that the mechanism by which these proteins control transcriptional repression is conserved throughout evolution.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph H.A. Vissers ◽  
Lucas G. Dent ◽  
Colin House ◽  
Shu Kondo ◽  
Kieran F. Harvey

ABSTRACTThe Hippo pathway is an evolutionary conserved signalling network that regulates organ size, cell fate control and tumorigenesis. In the context of organ size control, the pathway incorporates a large variety of cellular cues such as cell polarity and adhesion into an integrated transcriptional response. The central Hippo signalling effector is the transcriptional co-activator Yorkie, which controls gene expression in partnership with different transcription factors, most notably Scalloped. When it is not activated by Yorkie, Scalloped can act as a repressor of transcription, at least in part due to its interaction with the corepressor protein Tgi. The mechanism by which Tgi represses transcription is incompletely understood and therefore we sought to identify proteins that potentially operate together with it. Using an affinity purification and mass-spectrometry approach we identified Pits and CtBP as Tgi-interacting proteins, both of which have been linked to transcriptional repression. Both Pits and CtBP were required for Tgi to suppress the growth of the D. melanogaster eye and CtBP loss suppressed the undergrowth of yorkie mutant eye tissue. Furthermore, as reported previously for Tgi, overexpression of Pits suppressed transcription of Hippo pathway target genes. These findings suggest that Tgi might operate together with Pits and CtBP to repress transcription of genes that normally promote tissue growth. The human orthologues of Tgi, CtBP and Pits (VGLL4, CTBP2 and IRF2BP2) physically and functionally interact to control transcription, implying that the mechanism by which these proteins control transcriptional repression is conserved throughout evolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke Hermann ◽  
Guangming Wu ◽  
Pavel I. Nedvetsky ◽  
Viktoria C. Brücher ◽  
Charlotte Egbring ◽  
...  

AbstractThe WW-and-C2-domain-containing (WWC) protein family is involved in the regulation of cell differentiation, cell proliferation, and organ growth control. As upstream components of the Hippo signaling pathway, WWC proteins activate the Large tumor suppressor (LATS) kinase that in turn phosphorylates Yes-associated protein (YAP) and its paralog Transcriptional coactivator-with-PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) preventing their nuclear import and transcriptional activity. Inhibition of WWC expression leads to downregulation of the Hippo pathway, increased expression of YAP/TAZ target genes and enhanced organ growth. In mice, a ubiquitous Wwc1 knockout (KO) induces a mild neurological phenotype with no impact on embryogenesis or organ growth. In contrast, we could show here that ubiquitous deletion of Wwc2 in mice leads to early embryonic lethality. Wwc2 KO embryos display growth retardation, a disturbed placenta development, impaired vascularization, and finally embryonic death. A whole-transcriptome analysis of embryos lacking Wwc2 revealed a massive deregulation of gene expression with impact on cell fate determination, cell metabolism, and angiogenesis. Consequently, a perinatal, endothelial-specific Wwc2 KO in mice led to disturbed vessel formation and vascular hypersprouting in the retina. In summary, our data elucidate a novel role for Wwc2 as a key regulator in early embryonic development and sprouting angiogenesis in mice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. e201900381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan U Gerlach ◽  
Moritz Sander ◽  
Shilin Song ◽  
Héctor Herranz

One of the fundamental issues in biology is understanding how organ size is controlled. Tissue growth has to be carefully regulated to generate well-functioning organs, and defects in growth control can result in tumor formation. The Hippo signaling pathway is a universal growth regulator and has been implicated in cancer. In Drosophila, the Hippo pathway acts through the miRNA bantam to regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. Even though the bantam targets regulating apoptosis have been determined, the target genes controlling proliferation have not been identified thus far. In this study, we identify the gene tribbles as a direct bantam target gene. Tribbles limits cell proliferation by suppressing G2/M transition. We show that tribbles regulation by bantam is central in controlling tissue growth and tumorigenesis. We expand our study to other cell cycle regulators and show that deregulated G2/M transition can collaborate with oncogene activation driving tumor formation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomeng Zhang ◽  
Lie Yang ◽  
Pacman Szeto ◽  
Youfang Zhang ◽  
Kaushalya Amarasinghe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMelanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer that accounts for a disproportionally large proportion of cancer-related deaths in younger people. Compared to most other skin cancers, a feature of melanoma is its high metastatic capacity, although molecular mechanisms that confer this are not well understood. The Hippo pathway is a key regulator of organ growth and cell fate that is deregulated in many cancers. To analyse the Hippo pathway in cutaneous melanoma, we generated a transcriptional signature of pathway activity in melanoma cells. Hippo-mediated transcriptional activity varied in melanoma cell lines but failed to cluster with known genetic drivers of melanomagenesis such as BRAF and NRAS mutation status. Instead, it correlated strongly with published gene expression profiles linked to melanoma cell invasiveness. Consistent with this, the central Hippo oncogene, YAP, was both necessary and sufficient for melanoma cell invasion in vitro. In in vivo murine studies, YAP promoted spontaneous melanoma metastasis, whilst the growth of YAP-expressing primary tumours was impeded. Finally, we identified the YAP target genes AXL, THBS1 and CYR61 as key mediators of YAP-induced melanoma cell invasion. These data suggest that the Hippo pathway is a critical regulator of melanoma metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heya Zhao ◽  
Kenneth H. Moberg ◽  
Alexey Veraksa

AbstractThe Hippo pathway controls organ growth, however its role in cell fate determination and the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Here, we uncover the function of the Hippo pathway in developmental cell fate decisions in the Drosophila eye, exerted through the interaction of Yorkie (Yki) with a transcriptional regulator Bonus (Bon). Activation of either Bon or Yki is sufficient to promote epidermal fate at the expense of eye fate through the recruitment of multiple transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators. Transcriptome analysis reveals that Bon and Yki jointly upregulate epidermal differentiation genes and downregulate Notch target genes that modulate the eye-to-epidermal fate switch. The Hippo pathway and Bon also control the early eye-antennal specification, with activated Yki and Bon suppressing eye fate and promoting antennal fate. Our work has revealed that the Hippo pathway and Bon control cell fate decisions during Drosophila eye development at multiple levels.


iScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 102830
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Pojer ◽  
Samuel A. Manning ◽  
Benjamin Kroeger ◽  
Shu Kondo ◽  
Kieran F. Harvey

Author(s):  
Piera Tocci ◽  
Giovanni Blandino ◽  
Anna Bagnato

AbstractThe rational making the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) the centerpiece of targeted therapies is fueled by the awareness that GPCR-initiated signaling acts as pivotal driver of the early stages of progression in a broad landscape of human malignancies. The endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptors (ET-1R), known as ETA receptor (ETAR) and ETB receptor (ETBR) that belong to the GPCR superfamily, affect both cancer initiation and progression in a variety of cancer types. By the cross-talking with multiple signaling pathways mainly through the scaffold protein β-arrestin1 (β-arr1), ET-1R axis cooperates with an array of molecular determinants, including transcription factors and co-factors, strongly affecting tumor cell fate and behavior. In this scenario, recent findings shed light on the interplay between ET-1 and the Hippo pathway. In ETAR highly expressing tumors ET-1 axis induces the de-phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation of the Hippo pathway downstream effectors, the paralogous transcriptional cofactors Yes-associated protein (YAP) and Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ). Recent evidence have discovered that ET-1R/β-arr1 axis instigates a transcriptional interplay involving YAP and mutant p53 proteins, which share a common gene signature and cooperate in a oncogenic signaling network. Mechanistically, YAP and mutp53 are enrolled in nuclear complexes that turn on a highly selective YAP/mutp53-dependent transcriptional response. Notably, ET-1R blockade by the FDA approved dual ET-1 receptor antagonist macitentan interferes with ET-1R/YAP/mutp53 signaling interplay, through the simultaneous suppression of YAP and mutp53 functions, hampering metastasis and therapy resistance. Based on these evidences, we aim to review the recent findings linking the GPCR signaling, as for ET-1R, to YAP/TAZ signaling, underlining the clinical relevance of the blockade of such signaling network in the tumor and microenvironmental contexts. In particular, we debate the clinical implications regarding the use of dual ET-1R antagonists to blunt gain of function activity of mutant p53 proteins and thereby considering them as a potential therapeutic option for mutant p53 cancers. The identification of ET-1R/β-arr1-intertwined and bi-directional signaling pathways as targetable vulnerabilities, may open new therapeutic approaches able to disable the ET-1R-orchestrated YAP/mutp53 signaling network in both tumor and stromal cells and concurrently sensitizes to high-efficacy combined therapeutics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 216 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitoshi Matakatsu ◽  
Seth S. Blair ◽  
Richard G. Fehon

The large protocadherin Fat functions to promote Hippo pathway activity in restricting tissue growth. Loss of Fat leads to accumulation of the atypical myosin Dachs at the apical junctional region, which in turn promotes growth by inhibiting Warts. We previously identified Approximated (App), a DHHC domain palmitoyltransferase, as a negative regulator of Fat signaling in growth control. We show here that App promotes growth by palmitoylating the intracellular domain of Fat, and that palmitoylation negatively regulates Fat function. Independently, App also recruits Dachs to the apical junctional region through protein–protein association, thereby stimulating Dachs’s activity in promoting growth. Further, we show that palmitoylation by App functions antagonistically to phosphorylation by Discs-overgrown, which activates Fat. Together, these findings suggest a model in which App promotes Dachs activity by simultaneously repressing Fat via posttranslational modification and recruiting Dachs to the apical junctional region, thereby promoting tissue growth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii22-ii23
Author(s):  
G Casati ◽  
L Giunti ◽  
A Iorio ◽  
A Marturano ◽  
I Sardi

Abstract BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary human malignant brain tumor, the most common in adults. Several studies have highlighted the Hippo-pathway as a cancer signalling network. The Hippo pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signal cascade, which is involved in the control of organ growth. Dysregulations among this pathway have been found in lung, ovarian, liver and colorectal cancer. The key downstream effector of the Hippo-pathway is the Yes-associated protein (YAP); in the nucleus, its function as transcription co-activator is to interact with transcription factors, resulting in the expression of target genes involved in pro-proliferating and anti-apoptotic programs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Using western blotting analysis, we determined the nuclear expression of YAP on three GBM cell lines (U87MG, T98G and A172). To investigate which inhibitors against the Hippo-pathway were the most efficient, we performed a cytotoxic assay: we treated all the three cell lines with different inhibitors such as Verteporfin (VP), Cytochalasin D (CIT), Latrunculin A (LAT), Dobutamine (DOB) and Y27632. Afterwards, we performed a treatment using Doxorubicin (DOX) combined with the inhibitors, evaluating its cytotoxic effect on our cell lines, through cell viability experiments. More western blotting experiments were performed to investigate the oncogenic role of YAP at nucleus level. Furthermore, preliminary experiments have been conducted in order to investigate the apoptosis, senescence and autophagy modulation due to the Hippo-pathway. RESULTS We showed our cell lines express nuclear YAP. We assessed the efficiency of the main inhibitors against Hippo-pathway, proving that VP, LAT A and CIT show a strong cytostatic effect, linked to time increase; plus we saw a cytotoxic effect on T98G. The association of DOX with selected inhibitors is able to reduce cell viability and nuclear YAP expression rate in all three GBM lines. Finally, preliminary experiments were set up to assess how and if the mechanisms of apoptosis, autophagy and senescence were affected by the Hippo-pathway. The combination of DOX with inhibitors promotes resistance to apoptosis. CONCLUSION Our results show that nuclear YAP is present in all tumor lines, thus confirming that this molecular pathway is functioning in GBM lines. Nuclear YAP is more highly expressed after DOX administration. Moreover, the combined treatment (DOX with Hippo-pathway inhibitors) reduces both cell proliferation and viability, and increases the rate of apoptosis. Preliminary experiments on senescence and autophagy were used to determine the best Hippo-pathway inhibitor. These data demonstrate that the Hippo-pathway plays a crucial role in GBM proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. Inhibiting this pathway and in particular the transcription factor YAP, in association with DOX, might be an excellent therapeutic target.


2016 ◽  
Vol 216 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Short

Study describes how a palmitoyltransferase regulates the Hippo pathway in flies.


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