The Hippo pathway is a central regulator of tissue development and homeostasis, and has been reported to have a role during vascular development. Here we develop a bioluminescence-based biosensor that monitors the activity of the Hippo core component LATS kinase. Using this biosensor and a library of small molecule kinase inhibitors, we perform a screen for kinases modulating LATS activity and identify VEGFR as an upstream regulator of the Hippo pathway. We find that VEGFR activation by VEGF triggers PI3K/MAPK signaling, which subsequently inhibits LATS and activates the Hippo effectors YAP and TAZ. We further show that the Hippo pathway is a critical mediator of VEGF-induced angiogenesis and tumor vasculogenic mimicry. Thus, our work offers a biosensor tool for the study of the Hippo pathway and suggests a role for Hippo signaling in regulating blood vessel formation in physiological and pathological settings.

although the differences were not significant, patients in the intervention group had fewer falls, less hospital attendances and spent less time in hospital. Moreover, patients in the intervention group were more functionally independent at 6 months post-Index fall.

The population is ageing and the needs of older adults may not be being met in the field of forensic psychiatry. This survey gathered information about the number and the needs of older adult patients in a special secure forensic psychiatry care in Scotland. Inpatients of The State Hospital, Carstairs aged 55 or over throughout a 10-year period were included. This population has heterogeneous and complex needs. The most common diagnoses are of psychotic illnesses. Most patients are admitted from other secure psychiatric facilities or prison and the duration of admission is long. There are high rates of physical illness, mobility impairment, sensory impairment and polypharmacy. Offences tend to be at the severe end of the spectrum, including homicide, sexual offences and other violent offences. Most patients are single males and socioeconomic classes IV and V are over-represented. Further research will inform development of services for this population.

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) account for ∼25% of all invasive carcinomas and represent a large subset of aggressive, high-grade tumors. Despite current research focused on understanding the genetic landscape of TNBCs, reliable prognostic and predictive biomarkers remain limited. Although dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key players in many cancer types, the role of miRNAs in TNBC disease progression is unclear. We performed miRNA profiling of 51 TNBCs by next-generation sequencing to reveal differentially expressed miRNAs. A total of 228 miRNAs were identified. Three miRNAs (miR-224-5p, miR-375, and miR-205-5p) separated the tumors based on basal status. Six miRNAs (high let-7d-3p, miR-203b-5p, and miR-324-5p; low miR-30a-3p, miR-30a-5p, and miR-199a-5p) were significantly associated with decreased overall survival (OS) and 5 miRNAs (high let-7d-3p; low miR-30a-3p, miR-30a-5p, miR-30c-5p, and miR-128-3p) with decreased relapse-free survival (RFS). On multivariate analysis, high expression of let-7d-3p and low expression of miR-30a were independent predictors of decreased OS and RFS. High expression of miR-95-3p was significantly associated with decreased OS and RFS in patients treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Five miRNAs (let-7d-3p, miR-30a-3p, miR-30c-5p, miR-128-3p, and miR-95-3p) were validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Our findings unveil novel prognostic and predictive miRNA targets for TNBC, including a miRNA signature that predicts patient response to anthracycline-based chemotherapy. This may improve clinical management and/or lead to the development of novel therapies.-Turashvili, G., Lightbody, E. D., Tyryshkin, K., SenGupta, S. K., Elliott, B. E., Madarnas, Y., Ghaffari, A., Day, A., Nicol, C. J. B. Novel prognostic and predictive microRNA targets for triple-negative breast cancer.

Breast cancer is a leading cause of death in women worldwide. Active mutations of PI3K catalytic subunit PIK3CA (e.g., H1047R) and amplification of its homolog PIK3CB are observed in a large number of breast cancers. In recent years, aberrant activation of Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ binding motif (TAZ) and its paralog Yes-associated protein (YAP) have also been found to be important for breast cancer development and progression. However, whether PI3K interacts with YAP/TAZ during mammary tumorigenesis is unknown. Through a systematic gain-of-function screen for kinases involved in mammary tumorigenesis, we identified PIK3CB as a transformation-inducing kinase in breast cells. We further determined that PIK3CB positively regulates YAP and TAZ to promote transformation and inhibit mammary cell death PIK3CB coexpression with TAZ, rather than PIK3CB or TAZ alone, in human MCF10A nontumorigenic mammary cells is sufficient for tumor formation in mice Interestingly, we also determined that PIK3CA-H1047R enhances YAP and TAZ activity in mammary tumorigenesis Mechanistically, the regulation of YAP/TAZ by both PIK3CA and PIK3CB occurs through multiple signaling pathways including LATS-dependent and LATS-independent pathways. Therefore, in this study, we determine that PI3K and YAP/TAZ interact to promote breast cancer cell transformation. This study provides the first evidence that the Hippo pathway effectors TAZ and YAP are critical mediators of PI3K-induced mammary tumorigenesis and synergistically function together with PI3K in transformation of mammary cells. These findings may provide a novel rationale for targeting YAP/TAZ alone or in combination with PI3K inhibitors for breast cancer therapy in the future. .

The Hippo pathway is an emerging signaling pathway that plays important roles in organ size control, tissue homeostasis, tumorigenesis, metastasis, drug resistance, and immune response. Although many regulators of the Hippo pathway have been reported, the extracellular stimuli and kinase regulators of the Hippo pathway remain largely unknown. To identify novel regulars of the Hippo pathway, in this study we created the first ultra‐bright NanoLuc biosensor (BS) to monitor the activity of large tumor suppressor (LATS) kinase 1, a central player of the Hippo pathway. We show that this NanoLuc BS achieves significantly advanced sensitivity and stability both in vitro using purified proteins and in vivo in living cells and mice. Using this BS, we perform the first kinome‐wide screen and identify many kinases regulating LATS and its effectors yes‐associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional co‐activator with PDZ‐ binding motif (TAZ). We also show for the first time that activation of receptor tyrosine kinase anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) by its extracellular ligand family with sequence similarity (FAM)150 activates Hippo effector YAP/TAZ by increasing their nuclear translocation. Significantly, we show that constitutively active ALK induces tumorigenic phenotypes, such as increased cancer cell proliferation/colony formation via YAP/TAZ and elevated immune evasion via YAP/TAZ‐programmed death‐ligand 1 in breast and lung cancer cells. In summary, we have developed a new LATS BS for cancer biology and therapeutics research and uncovered a novel ALK‐LATS‐YAP/TAZ signaling axis that may play important roles in cancer and possibly other biologic processes.—Nouri, K., Azad, T., Lightbody, E., Khanal, P., Nicol, C. J., Yang, X. A kinome‐wide screen using a NanoLuc LATS luminescent biosensor identifies ALK as a novel regulator of the Hippo pathway in tumorigenesis and immune evasion. FASEB J. 33, 12487–12499 (2019). http://www.fasebj.org

Excessive proliferation and apoptosis‐resistance are hallmarks of cancer. Increased dynamin‐related protein 1 (Drp1)‐mediated mitochondrial fission is one of the mediators of this phenotype. Mitochondrial fission that accompanies the nuclear division is called mitotic fission and occurs when activated Drp1 binds partner proteins on the outer mitochondrial membrane. We examine the role of Drp1‐binding partners, mitochondrial dynamics protein of 49 and 51 kDa (MiD49 and MiD51), as drivers of cell proliferation and apoptosis‐resistance in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and invasive breast carcinoma (IBC). We also evaluate whether inhibiting MiDs can be therapeutically exploited to regress cancer. We show that MiD levels are pathologically elevated in NSCLC and IBC by an epigenetic mechanism (decreased microRNA‐34a‐3p expression). MiDs silencing causes cell cycle arrest through (a) increased expression of cell cycle inhibitors, p27Kip1 and p21Waf1, (b) inhibition of Drp1, and (c) inhibition of the Akt‐mTOR‐p70S6K pathway. Silencing MiDs leads to mitochondrial fusion, cell cycle arrest, increased apoptosis, and tumor regression in a xenotransplant NSCLC model. There are positive correlations between MiD expression and tumor size and grade in breast cancer patients and inverse correlations with survival in NSCLC patients. The microRNA‐34a‐3p‐MiDs axis is important to cancer pathogenesis and constitutes a new therapeutic target.

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