Hippo pathway effectors are associated with glioma patient survival, control cell proliferation and sterol metabolism through TEAD3

Glioblastomas represent the most common and lethal primary brain tumors in the world. Despite therapeutic advances during the last two decades, patient prognosis remains very poor. The Hippo signaling pathway effectors YAP/TAZ-TEADs play a crucial role in tumor progression and represent promising therapeutic targets in gliomas. In this study, we identified and investigated the clinical and biological significance of TEAD transcription factors. Through comprehensive analyses of TCGA glioma data and patient samples, we identified TEAD3-4 transcription factors as robust prognostic markers of patient outcome. Using up to five different patient-derived glioblastoma stem cell cultures, we confirmed the preferential expression and activation of TEAD3-4 along with their transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ. Pharmacological inhibition of YAP/TAZ-TEAD interaction by Verteporfin significantly decreased tumor cell growth, whereas specific inhibition of TEAD3 did not impact cell proliferation but affected sterol/cholesterol biosynthetic and metabolic processes. This study contributes to a better understanding of the role of Hippo effectors in glioblastoma pathophysiology. These transcription factors, particularly TEAD3, could potentially serve as therapeutic targets, especially considering recent data on cholesterol homeostasis in glioblastomas.