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Updated: Jul 9, 2025

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Published on: October 27, 2020
TGF-β/SMAD canonical pathway induces the expression of transcriptional cofactor TAZ in liver cancer cells
Diana G Ríos-López1, Angeles C Tecalco-Cruz2, David Martínez-Pastor1
1Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico.
Abstract:
The TGF-β and Hippo pathways are critical for liver size control, regeneration, and cancer progression. The transcriptional cofactor TAZ, also named WWTR1, is a downstream effector of Hippo pathway and plays a key role in the maintenance of liver physiological functions. However, the up-regulation of TAZ expression has been associated with liver cancer progression. Recent evidence shows crosstalk of TGF-β and Hippo pathways, since TGF-β modulates TAZ expression through different mechanisms in a cellular context-dependent manner but supposedly independent of SMADs. Here, we evaluate the molecular interplay between TGF-β pathway and TAZ expression and observe that TGF-β induces TAZ expression through SMAD canonical pathway in liver cancer HepG2 cells. Therefore, TAZ cofactor is a primary target of TGF-β/SMAD-signaling, one of the pathways altered in liver cancer.
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