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Transduction of mechanical and cytoskeletal cues by YAP and TAZ

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 13, pages 591–600 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The physical and mechanical properties of the cellular microenvironment regulate cell shape and can strongly influence cell fate. How mechanical cues are sensed and transduced to regulate gene expression has long remained elusive. Recently, cues from the extracellular matrix, cell adhesion sites, cell shape and the actomyosin cytoskeleton were found to converge on the regulation of the downstream effectors of the Hippo pathway YAP (Yes-associated protein) and TAZ (transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif) in vertebrates and Yorkie in flies. This convergence may explain how mechanical signals can direct normal and pathological cell behaviour.

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Figure 1: Influence of mechanical and physical properties of the ECM on cell behaviour.
Figure 2: YAP and TAZ as sensors and mediators of mechanical inputs from the ECM.
Figure 3: A model for the mechanical regulation of YAP and TAZ.

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Acknowledgements

The authors apologize to colleagues whose work could not be cited owing to space limitations. We thank G. Vozzi and A. Mertz for help with the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Bob Duncan, American Leather to G.H.; Italian Association for Cancer Research-Principal Investigator grant (PI-AIRC) and Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR) grants to S.D.; AIRC Special Program Molecular Clinical Oncology “5 per mille”, Human Frontiers Science Programme (HSFP), University of Padua Strategic-grant, Excellence-grant- IIT, Epigenetics Flagship project CNR-Miur to S.P.

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  1. Georg Halder is at the Viaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie Center for the Biology of Disease and the Center for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.,

    Georg Halder

  2. Sirio Dupont and Stefano Piccolo are at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua School of Medicine, viale Colombo 3, 35131 Padua, Italy.,

    Sirio Dupont & Stefano Piccolo

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  1. Georg Halder
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Correspondence to Georg Halder, Sirio Dupont or Stefano Piccolo.

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Halder, G., Dupont, S. & Piccolo, S. Transduction of mechanical and cytoskeletal cues by YAP and TAZ. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 13, 591–600 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3416

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