title: Mst1/2 signalling to Yap: gatekeeper for liver size and tumour development.
abstract: The mechanisms controlling mammalian organ size have long been a source of fascination for biologists. These controls are needed to both ensure the integrity of the body plan and to restrict inappropriate proliferation that could lead to cancer. Regulation of liver size is of particular interest inasmuch as this organ maintains the capacity for regeneration throughout life, and is able to regain precisely its original mass after partial surgical resection. Recent studies using genetically engineered mouse strains have shed new light on this problem; the Hippo signalling pathway, first elucidated as a regulator of organ size in Drosophila, has been identified as dominant determinant of liver growth. Defects in this pathway in mouse liver lead to sustained liver overgrowth and the eventual development of both major types of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma. In this review, we discuss the role of Hippo signalling in liver biology and the contribution of this pathway to liver cancer in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Simches Research Building, 6408, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. avruch@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Avruch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fitamant
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bardeesy
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D009929:Organ Size; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000502:physiology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D000090742:Serine-Threonine Kinase 3; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D000091102:YAP-Signaling Proteins; D000099317:Hippo Kinases
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D000090742:Serine-Threonine Kinase 3; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000091102:YAP-Signaling Proteins; C456659:YY1AP1 protein, human; C486223:Yap1 protein, mouse; C490660:Stk4 protein, mouse; D000099317:Hippo Kinases; C095566:STK4 protein, human; C097835:STK3 protein, human; C490818:Stk3 protein, mouse