Two-signal requirement for growth-promoting function of Yap in hepatocytes
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, United States
- College of Life Sciences, Peking University, China
Abstract
The transcriptional coactivator Yes-associated protein (Yap) promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis, suggesting that Yap functions as an oncogene. Most oncogenes, however, require a combination of at least two signals to promote proliferation. Here we present evidence that Yap activation is insufficient to promote growth in the otherwise normal tissue. Using a mosaic mouse model, we demonstrate that Yap overexpression in a fraction of hepatocytes does not lead to their clonal expansion, as proliferation is counterbalanced by increased apoptosis. To shift the activity of Yap towards growth, a second signal provided by tissue damage or inflammation is required. In response to liver injury, Yap drives clonal expansion, suppresses hepatocyte differentiation and promotes a progenitor phenotype. These results suggest that Yap activation is insufficient to promote growth in the absence of a second signal thus coordinating tissue homeostasis and repair.
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Animal experimentation: All animal experiments were performed with approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Yale University (protocol # 2014-08006).
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© 2015, Su et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Two-signal requirement for growth-promoting function of Yap in hepatocytes
eLife 4:e02948.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02948
