Area of research
Cognitive Neuroscience · Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Research interest
Research topics from publications: Kindlin-2 Inhibits the Hippo Signaling Pathway by Promoting Degradation of MOB1; Unconventional myosin VIIA promotes melanoma progression. Representative work: The Hippo signaling pathway plays a key role in development and cancer progression. However, molecules that intrinsically inhibit this pathway are less well known. Here, we report that the focal adhesion molecule Kindlin-2 inhibits Hippo signaling by interacting with and degrading MOB1 and promoting the interaction between MOB1 and the E3 ligase praja2. Kindlin-2 thus inhibits the phosphorylation of LATS1 and YAP and promotes YAP translocation into the nucleus, where it activates downstream Hippo target gene transcription. Kindlin-2 depletion activates Hippo/YAP signaling and alleviates renal fibrosis in Kindlin-2 knockout mice with unilateral ureteral occlusion (UUO). Moreover, Kindlin-2 le ABSTRACT Unconventional myosin VIIA (Myo7a) is an actin-based motor molecule that normally functions in the cochlear hair cells of the inner ear. Mutations of MYO7A/Myo7a have been implicated in inherited deafness in both humans and mice. However, there is limited information about the functions of Myo7a outside of the specialized cells of the ears. Herein, we report a previously unidentified function of Myo7a by demonstrating that it plays an important role in melanoma progression. We found that silencing Myo7a by means of RNAi inhibited melanoma cell growth through upregulation of cell cycle regulator p21 (also known as CDKN1A) and suppressed melanoma cell migration and invasion through do