Project description:In order to study how ectopic Yki drives tissue overgrowth in Drosophila imaginal discs, we overexpressed the constitutively active Yki3SA and deleted wts in clones of cells in the entire eye-antennal imaginal disc, as well as specifically in eye disc proper cells using Optix-Gal4. Using the MARCM system allowed us to compare the effects of Yki3SA overexpression in wild-type and sd mutant clones.
Project description:We conditionally activated Yap in hepatocytes of adult mice by two different methods: we deleted the Lats1/2 kinases via injecting AAV8-Cre into Lats1/2 double floxed mice (Lats1/2 KO) and we overexpressed YAP via doxycycline feeding of mice that expressed the tetracycline-activated transactivator (rtTA) under the hepatocyte-specific ApoE promoter and human YAP from a rtTA-responsive TetO promoter (Apo>YAP).
Project description:We fed wildtype larvae a special diet that lacks precursor molecules necessary for the synthesis of the molting hormone ecdysone required for pupation, thus keeping animals in the larval stage. Importantly, in these larvae, the imaginal discs grow until their terminal size is reached but they do not proceed with differentiation as this requires a pulse of ecdysone. This method thus allowed us to directly compare actively growing discs with discs at the same developmental stage that terminated proliferation after reaching their proper size.
Project description:We conditionally deleted Yap/Taz from hepatocytes prior to induction of acute injury by injection of liver toxin carbon tetrachloride (CCl4).
Project description:The Hippo pathway is an emerging signaling cascade involved in the regulation of organ size control. It consists of evolutionally conserved protein kinases that are sequentially phosphorylated and activated. The active Hippo pathway subsequently phosphorylates a transcription coactivator, YAP, which precludes its nuclear localization and transcriptional activation. Identification of transcriptional targets of YAP in diverse cellular contexts is therefore critical to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms in which the Hippo pathway restricts tissue growth. We used microarrays to profile the gene expression patterns upon acute siRNA knockdown of Hippo pathway components in multiple mammalian cell lines and identified a set of genes representing immediate transcriptional targets of the Hippo/Yap signaling pathway. Three mammalian cell lines (HEK293T, HepG2, HaCaT) were transfected with scramble siRNA controls or siRNAs against NF2 and LATS2, two core components of the Hippo pathway, simultaneously. Total RNAs were harvested four days after transfection to reveal the gene expression pattern unsing microarry. YAP and TAZ siRNAs were also transfected along with NF2 and LATS2 siRNAs to identify YAP/TAZ-dependent transcriptional targets upon loss of NF2/LATS2.