Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 17, 2025

Monitoring Hippo Signaling Pathway Activity Using a Luciferase-based Large Tumor Suppressor LATS Biosensor
07:16

Monitoring Hippo Signaling Pathway Activity Using a Luciferase-based Large Tumor Suppressor LATS Biosensor

Published on: September 13, 2018

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Targeting the Hippo pathway in cancer

Kieran F Harvey1,2,3, Tracy T Tang4

  • 1Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. kieran.harvey@petermac.org.

Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery
|June 30, 2025
PubMed

Insights

The Hippo pathway regulates tissue growth and is implicated in cancers. Inhibiting YAP/TAZ-TEAD interactions shows promise for cancer therapy, potentially combined with RAS-MAPK inhibitors.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • The Hippo pathway is a conserved signaling network regulating tissue growth and cell fate.
  • Aberrant Hippo signaling is linked to human diseases, especially solid cancers.
  • YAP and TAZ are key transcriptional co-activators in the Hippo pathway.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the therapeutic potential of targeting the Hippo pathway in cancer.
  • To investigate the role of YAP/TAZ-TEAD interactions in cancer progression.
  • To evaluate the combination of Hippo pathway inhibitors with RAS-MAPK inhibitors.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on Hippo pathway signaling and cancer.
  • Analysis of preclinical and clinical data on Hippo pathway-targeted therapies.
  • Exploration of the functional relationship between Hippo and RAS-MAPK pathways.

Main Results:

  • Hippo pathway dysregulation is a hallmark of various cancers.
  • Inhibitors targeting YAP/TAZ-TEAD transcriptional activity show therapeutic promise.
  • TEAD inhibitors have demonstrated efficacy in early-phase clinical trials for specific cancers.
  • The Hippo pathway shares functional links with the RAS-MAPK pathway.

Conclusions:

  • Targeting the Hippo pathway, particularly YAP/TAZ-TEAD interactions, represents a viable strategy for cancer treatment.
  • Combination therapies involving Hippo pathway inhibitors and RAS-MAPK inhibitors hold significant potential for enhanced efficacy.
  • Further research into Hippo pathway modulation could lead to novel cancer therapeutics.

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