sLats1 Involvement in Cellular Proliferation and the Hippo Cell Signaling Pathway
Open Access
Author:
Lesko, Elizabeth May
Area of Honors:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Zhi-Chun Lai, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Wendy Hanna-Rose, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
sLats1 Hippo Pathway Drosophila HEK293A Plasmid
Abstract:
Many cell signaling pathways exist in which one or more components are directly implicated in tumor suppression or tumorigenesis. The Hippo pathway for control of cellular proliferation and apoptosis is one of these pathways, and several of the component proteins are linked to overall cell proliferation control. Two of these proteins, LATS1 and YAP, are directly involved in cell-cell inhibition of proliferation and tumor suppression, yet the exact mechanisms of these mammalian proteins and their Drosophila homologs are not fully known. The mechanisms of regulation of the Hippo pathway are not yet entirely known, but a LATS1 variant protein, short LATS1 (sLats1) may be involved in the regulation of the proteins LATS1 and YAP, and could therefore be a potential target for the development of novel tumor suppressing therapies. The role of sLats1 in the regulation of the Hippo pathway in Drosophila melanogaster and human cells is herein explored, and sLats1 overexpression is found to result in decreased cellular proliferation in Drosophila wing plates, indicating a possible tumor suppressive function. The dominant effect of sLats1 overexpression in HEK293A cells has yet to be determined, but results suggest several possible outcomes related to sLats1 regulation of the proteins LATS1 and YAP.
