Transcriptional Regulation by YAP/TAZ via TEADs and Additional Transcription Factors

The Hippo pathway regulates cell proliferation, cell death, and differentiation, and thus plays a key role in organ size control and tissue homeostasis throughout animal development and adult life. Aberrant Hippo signaling is a key driver of human cancer, developmental disorders, other pathological conditions, and aging. Yes-associated protein (YAP) and its paralog, transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ), are two transcriptional coactivators that mediate the major functions of the Hippo pathway by binding to specific transcription factors, such as members of the transcriptional enhanced associate domain (TEAD) family. In this review, we provide an updated overview of this transcriptional module within the Hippo pathway, discuss how it modulates gene transcription to contribute to development and disease, and propose outstanding questions that warrant further investigation in future studies.