Transcriptional cofactor Mask2 is required for YAP-induced cell growth and migration in bladder cancer cell

Abstract

The highly conserved Hippo signaling pathway is an important pathway involved in tumorigenesis and development. In previous studies, YAP, the transcription coactivator of Hippo pathway, is found to be highly expressed in many clinical bladder cancer samples. To investigate the function of YAP and its cofactor Mask2 in bladder cancer, we overexpress YAP in bladder cancer cells and discover that YAP is able to promote bladder cancer cell growth and migration. In addition, we provide evidence that knockdown of Mask2 is able to repress bladder cancer cell growth and migration. Furthermore, we demonstrate knockdown of Mask2 is able to inhibit bladder cancer cell growth and migration induced by the excessive YAP. To explain the function of YAP/Mask2 complex in bladder cancer, we check the target genes' expression of Hippo signaling pathway involved in cell growth and migration and find overexpressed YAP is able to upregulate the target genes' expression while depletion of Mask2 downregulates them. Taken together, we demonstrate that Mask2 is required for the function of bladder cancer cell growth and migration induced by YAP via the target genes of Hippo pathway.