Chasing Hippos: Implications of YAP1 and TAZ Expression in Pregnancy-associated Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis
Anastasios Kyriazoglou1, Anna-Maria Korakiti2, Alkistis-Maria Papatheodoridi1
1Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Alexandra Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Background/Aim:
The Hippo pathway is a molecular pathway recently associated with tumorigenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance. Pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) is the most common malignancy diagnosed during gestation; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying PABC are largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Hippo pathway transducers TAZ and YAP1 expression in PABC in relation to the clinicopathological characteristics of the disease.
Patients And Methods:
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from 21 PABC patients treated at Alexandra Hospital in Athens, Greece, were analyzed with immunohistochemistry.
Results:
Strong nuclear TAZ/YAP1 stanning was found in 48% of the PABC patients analyzed. Hormone receptor negative patients had a statistically significant correlation with strong positive expression of TAZ/YAP1 co-transcription factors. No association was observed with overall and disease-free survival.
Conclusion:
The Hippo pathway is de-regulated in a subset of PABC patients, highlighting the complex molecular background of the disease, which certainly requires further investigation.
More Related Videos
11:32Identification of Transcription Factor Regulators using Medium-Throughput Screening of Arrayed Libraries and a Dual-Luciferase-Based Reporter
Published on: March 27, 2020
09:55All-optical Mechanobiology Interrogation of Yes-associated Protein in Human Cancer and Normal Cells using a Multi-functional System
Published on: December 20, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Abnormal Proliferation
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Nondisjunction
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions
When the tumor suppressor genes develop mutations or are lost, cells start growing out of control, leading to cancer. However, a single functional copy of the tumor suppressor gene is enough for the cells to maintain their normal functions and cell...
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
