Hippo Signaling Pathway

The Hippo signaling pathway is a signaling pathway that has been found to play an important role in the regulation of multicellular biological organ size in recent years. Patient sample analysis and mouse model studies indicate that dysregulation of the Hippo signaling pathway plays a key role in the different stages of cancer development. The Hippo signaling pathway senses a variety of external stimuli such as the mechanical environment, G-protein coupled receptor signaling, and cellular energy levels, and is activated by protein kinase chains. then, the transcriptional coactivator YAP (Yes-associated protein) and its homologous protein TAZ (transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif) are directly phosphorylated, resulting in their cytoplasmic retention and degradation.

In general, this signaling pathway has three interrelated components: upstream regulatory signaling, the hippo core kinase cascade complex, and the downstream nuclear transcriptional regulatory complex. Among them, hippo upstream regulatory signals or abnormal activity of the core kinase cascade complex can lead to excessive organ growth and multiple tumors.