2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Regulation of liver tumor development by Mats gene

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22700864
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Carcinogenesis
Research Institution	Kyushu University
Principal Investigator	WANG Jia 九州大学, 稲盛フロンティア研究センター, 学術研究員 (60572245)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	鈴木聡九州大学, 生体防御医学研究所
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2011
Keywords	Hippoシグナル経路 / Mats / 肝臓癌
Research Abstract	Recent studies in Drosophila suggest that the Hippo intracellular signaling pathway plays an important role in the control of organ size, cell proliferation, and tumor development. Central to the Hippo pathway is the kinase cascade consisting of Mst kinase, WW45, Lats kinase, and its regulatory subunit Mats. Lats associates with Mats to restrict cell proliferation primarily by regulating Yap/Taz, the primary downstream effector of the Hippo pathway. We have generated Mats1/2 mutant mice, and found that Mats1/2 are important for the embryogenesis and tumor regulation. In addition, we found that all of liver-specific Mats1/2 deficient mice showed liver tumors. Chemicals targeting the Hippo pathway including Mats, may become the new drugs for the treatment of tumors.