Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Identification of Transcription Factor Regulators using Medium-Throughput Screening of Arrayed Libraries and a Dual-Luciferase-Based Reporter
11:32

Identification of Transcription Factor Regulators using Medium-Throughput Screening of Arrayed Libraries and a Dual-Luciferase-Based Reporter

Published on: March 27, 2020

7.1K

Mechanisms of YAP/TAZ transcriptional control

Giusy Battilana1, Francesca Zanconato1, Stefano Piccolo1,2

  • 1Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Via G. Colombo 3, 35131, Padua, Italy.

Cell Stress
|November 16, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Cancer cells hijack developmental gene programs using a few key transcription factors (TFs) and co-activators like YAP/TAZ. This reveals an ordered process, not chaos, in cancer gene expression.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Gene Regulation

Background:

  • Dysregulated gene expression drives cancer development, including cell transformation, tumorigenesis, and metastasis.
  • Cancer gene expression arises from complex networks influenced by genetic/epigenetic changes and the tumor microenvironment.
  • The precise orchestration of cancer gene expression—whether chaotic or ordered by master regulators—remains an open question.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether cancer gene expression is a chaotic outcome or an ordered process controlled by a few key transcription factors (TFs).
  • To elucidate the role of YAP/TAZ co-activators in mediating gene expression changes in cancer cells.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of gene regulatory networks in cancer cells.
  • Investigating the function of YAP/TAZ co-activators and their associated transcription factors.
  • Studying the engagement of transcriptional machinery at cis-regulatory elements.

Main Results:

  • Recent research highlights YAP/TAZ co-activators as crucial players in cancer gene regulation.
  • Tumor cells utilize developmental and regenerative growth programs by engaging specific sets of interconnected TFs and nuclear partners.
  • This suggests an ordered regulatory mechanism rather than a purely chaotic one.

Conclusions:

  • Cancer cells co-opt conserved cellular programs through a limited set of master regulators, including YAP/TAZ.
  • This provides insight into the ordered nature of oncogenic gene expression.
  • Understanding these master regulators offers potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.
Keywords:
AP-1Brd4HippoMechanotransductionYAP/TAZcancerproliferation

More Related Videos

Enhanced Yeast One-hybrid Screens To Identify Transcription Factor Binding To Human DNA Sequences11:25

Enhanced Yeast One-hybrid Screens To Identify Transcription Factor Binding To Human DNA Sequences

Published on: February 11, 2019

8.2K
De Novo Generation of Somatic Stem Cells by YAP/TAZ13:05

De Novo Generation of Somatic Stem Cells by YAP/TAZ

Published on: May 7, 2018

9.2K

Related Concept Videos

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins02:36

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

Proteins that regulate transcription can do so either via direct contact with RNA Polymerase or through indirect interactions facilitated by adaptors, mediators, histone-modifying proteins, and nucleosome remodelers. Direct interactions to activate transcription is seen in bacteria as well as in some eukaryotic genes. In these cases, upstream activation sequences are adjacent to the promoters, and the activator proteins interact directly with the transcriptional machinery. For example, in...
9.8K
Co-activators and Co-repressors02:04

Co-activators and Co-repressors

Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...
7.7K
Eukaryotic Transcription Activators02:42

Eukaryotic Transcription Activators

Transcription activators are proteins that promote the transcription of genes from DNA to RNA. In most cases, these proteins contain two separate domains ‒ a domain that binds to DNA and a domain for activating transcription; however, in some cases, a single domain is responsible for both binding and activation of transcription, as seen in the glucocorticoid receptor and MyoD.
The binding domains are capable of recognizing and interacting with regulatory sequences on the DNA. These...
11.4K
Eukaryotic Transcription Inhibitors01:52

Eukaryotic Transcription Inhibitors

Certain biochemical processes, such as embryonic development and cell growth regulation, depend on the repression of specific genes. DNA binding proteins known as eukaryotic transcription inhibitors regulate the repression of gene expression in eukaryotes. The presence of these inhibitors at the required location and time in the cell is triggered by the presence of hormones and additional signals from other cells.
Eukaryotic transcription inhibitors usually contain two distinct domains, a...
10.1K
Master Transcription Regulators02:23

Master Transcription Regulators

Master transcription regulators are regulatory proteins that are predominantly responsible for regulating the expression of multiple genes. Often these genes work in concert to drive a  complex process. Activation of a master transcription regulator can lead to a cascade of transcriptional activation necessary for that outcome. These regulators can directly bind to the regulatory sequences of the various genes involved, or they can indirectly regulate transcription by binding to regulatory...
7.2K
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps02:24

Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps

Gene expression can be regulated at almost every step from gene to protein. Transcription is the step that is most commonly regulated. This involves the binding of proteins to short regulatory sequences on the DNA. This association can either promote or inhibit the transcription of a gene associated with the respective sequence.
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
23.8K