1. Academic Validation
  2. WWC proteins mediate LATS1/2 activation by Hippo kinases and imply a tumor suppression strategy

WWC proteins mediate LATS1/2 activation by Hippo kinases and imply a tumor suppression strategy

  • Mol Cell. 2022 May 19;82(10):1850-1864.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2022.03.027.
Sixian Qi 1 Yuwen Zhu 1 Xincheng Liu 1 Pengyue Li 2 Yebin Wang 1 Yan Zeng 1 Aijuan Yu 1 Yu Wang 1 Zhao Sha 1 Zhenxing Zhong 1 Rui Zhu 1 Haixin Yuan 3 Dan Ye 3 Shenglin Huang 3 Chen Ling 4 Yanhui Xu 3 Dawang Zhou 5 Lei Zhang 2 Fa-Xing Yu 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, International Co-laboratory of Medical Epigenetics and Metabolism, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
  • 3 Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Engineering Research Center of Gene Technology (Ministry of Education), School of Life Sciences, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
  • 5 School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China.
  • 6 Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, International Co-laboratory of Medical Epigenetics and Metabolism, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China. Electronic address: fxyu@fudan.edu.cn.
Abstract

YAP and TAZ (YAP/TAZ), two major effectors of the Hippo signaling pathway, are frequently activated in human cancers. The activity of YAP/TAZ is strictly repressed upon phosphorylation by LATS1/2 tumor suppressors. However, it is unclear how LATS1/2 are precisely regulated by upstream factors such as Hippo kinases MST1/2. Here, we show that WWC proteins (WWC1/2/3) directly interact with LATS1/2 and SAV1, and SAV1, in turn, brings in MST1/2 to phosphorylate and activate LATS1/2. Hence, WWC1/2/3 play an organizer role in a signaling module that mediates LATS1/2 activation by MST1/2. Moreover, we have defined a minimum protein interaction interface on WWC1/2/3 that is sufficient to activate LATS1/2 in a robust and specific manner. The corresponding minigene, dubbed as SuperHippo, can effectively suppress tumorigenesis in multiple tumor models. Our study has uncovered a molecular mechanism underlying LATS1/2 regulation and provides a strategy for treating diverse malignancies related to Hippo pathway dysregulation.

Keywords

Hippo; KIBRA; LATS1; LATS2; MST1; MST2; TAZ; WWC1; YAP; cancer.

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