Project description:We report the transcriptomic landscape of HeLa cells in reponse to immune stimulus. We use this data to identify the genes that are commonly upregulated in response to the immunogenic stimuli. The data represent RNAseq reads/abundance for the genes listed in the processed data.
Project description:The Hippo pathway is an emerging signaling cascade involved in the regulation of organ size control. It consists of evolutionally conserved protein kinases that are sequentially phosphorylated and activated. The active Hippo pathway subsequently phosphorylates a transcription coactivator, YAP, which precludes its nuclear localization and transcriptional activation. Identification of transcriptional targets of YAP in diverse cellular contexts is therefore critical to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms in which the Hippo pathway restricts tissue growth. We used microarrays to profile the gene expression patterns upon acute siRNA knockdown of Hippo pathway components in multiple mammalian cell lines and identified a set of genes representing immediate transcriptional targets of the Hippo/Yap signaling pathway. Three mammalian cell lines (HEK293T, HepG2, HaCaT) were transfected with scramble siRNA controls or siRNAs against NF2 and LATS2, two core components of the Hippo pathway, simultaneously. Total RNAs were harvested four days after transfection to reveal the gene expression pattern unsing microarry. YAP and TAZ siRNAs were also transfected along with NF2 and LATS2 siRNAs to identify YAP/TAZ-dependent transcriptional targets upon loss of NF2/LATS2.
Project description:Most cancer cells are exposed to extracellular environments, such as extracellular matrix, which commonly becomes stiffer along with transformation. It is conceivable that tumorous extracellular environments would be changing to affect tumor cell behavior. It has been reported that Hippo pathway responds to the extracellular environments and induces the nuclear localization of transcription activator, yes-associated protein (YAP), resulting in stimulating cell proliferation. Its pathway also regulates gene expression, but the precise molecule to meditate cell proliferating effect of Hippo pathway in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is not well understood. Here, we examined the effects of YAP-mediated Hippo pathway in OSCC tumorigenesis. Loss-of-function experiments using siRNA or an inhibitor, and immunohistochemical analyses of tissue specimens obtained from OSCC specimens demonstrated that YAP-mediated Hippo pathway was involved in OSCC cell proliferation. We identified Piezo-type mechanosensitive ion channel component 1 (PIEZO1), a Ca2+ channel, as a downstream molecule of Hippo pathway and showed that elevated PIEZO1 expression was required for PIEZO1 agonist-dependent Ca2+ entry and cell proliferation in OSCC cells. Furthermore, the experiments using three-dimensional culture and suspension culture revealed that PIEZO1, of which expression was regulated by YAP-mediated Hippo pathway, was involved in OSCC cellular growth. Immunohistochemically, YAP overexpression with nucleus and/or cytoplasm was detected with both PIEZO1 and Ki-67 expression at high frequencies in tumor lesion, but not in non-tumor region, of OSCC specimens. These results suggest that the YAP-mediated Hippo/PIEZO1 axis, which might be activated by the tumorous extracellular environments, promotes OSCC tumor cell growth.
Project description:Epithelial polarity is controlled by a polarity machinery including the Rho GTPase CDC42 and Scribble/PAR. By using intestinal stem cell (ISC)-specific deletion of CDC42 in Olfm4-IRES-eGFPCreERT2;CDC42flox/flox mice, we found that ISC-initiated CDC42 loss caused a drastic hyper-proliferation of transit amplifying (TA) cells and disrupted epithelial polarity. CDC42-null crypts displayed expanded TA cell and diminished ISC populations, accompanied by elevated hippo signaling via YAP/TAZ - Ereg and mTOR activation, independent from canonical Wnt signaling. YAP/TAZ conditional knockout restored the balance of ISC/TA cell populations and crypt proliferation but did not rescue the polarity in CDC42-null small intestine. mTOR or EGFR inhibitor treatment of CDC42 KO mice exhibited similar rescuing effects without affecting YAP/TAZ signaling. Inducible ablation of Scribble in intestinal epithelial cells mimics that of CDC42 KO defects including crypt hyperplasia and hippo signaling activation. Mammalian epithelial polarity regulates ISC and TA cell fate and proliferation via a hippo-Ereg-mTOR cascade.
Project description:The Hippo pathway is a commonly altered signaling pathway involved in cancer initiation and progression; however, exactly how this pathway becomes dysregulated to promote human cancer development has not been fully understood. In this study, we systematically analyzed the Hippo somatic mutations derived from human cancer genome and functionally annotated their roles in targeting the Hippo pathway. We identified a total of 85 driver missense mutations for the major Hippo pathway genes and elucidated the mechanisms by which these mutations altered their functions in the Hippo pathway. Through these analyses, we revealed zinc-finger domain (ZNF) as an integral structure required for MOB1 function, whose driver mutations promoted head and neck cancer development. Moreover, we discovered that the schwannoma/meningioma-derived NF2 driver mutations gained an oncogenic role by activating the VANGL-JNK pathway. Taken together, our study offers a rich somatic mutation resource for further investigating the Hippo pathway in human cancer, providing a molecular basis for the development of Hippo-related personalized cancer therapy.