During development and regeneration, proliferation of tissue-specific stem cells is tightly controlled to produce organs of a predetermined size. The molecular determinants of this process remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate the function of Yap1, the transcriptional effector of the Hippo signaling pathway, in skin biology. Using gain- and loss-of-function studies we show that Yap1 is a critical modulator of epidermal stem cell proliferation and tissue expansion. Yap1 mediates this effect through interaction with TEAD transcription factors. Additionally, our studies reveal that α-catenin, a molecule previously implicated in tumor suppression and cell density sensing in the skin, is an upstream negative regulator of Yap1. α-catenin controls Yap1 activity and phosphorylation by modulating its interaction with 14-3-3 and the PP2A phosphatase. Together, these data identify Yap1 as a determinant of the proliferative capacity of epidermal stem cells and as an important effector of a ‘crowd control’ molecular circuitry in mammalian skin.

SUMMARY Global downregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is commonly observed in human cancers and can have a causative role in tumorigenesis. The mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon remain poorly understood. Here we show that YAP, the downstream target of the tumor-suppressive Hippo signaling pathway regulates miRNA biogenesis in a cell density-dependent manner. At low cell density, nuclear YAP binds and sequesters p72 (DDX17), a regulatory component of the miRNA processing machinery. At high cell density, Hippo-mediated cytoplasmic retention of YAP facilitates p72 association with Microprocessor and binding to a specific sequence motif in pri-miRNAs. Inactivation of the Hippo pathway or expression of constitutively active YAP causes widespread miRNA suppression in cells and tumors and a corresponding post-transcriptional induction of MYC expression. Thus, the Hippo pathway links contact-inhibition regulation to miRNA biogenesis and may be responsible for the widespread miRNA repression observed in cancer.

Next-generation sequencing technologies have greatly expanded our understanding of cancer genetics. Antisense technology is an attractive platform with the potential to translate these advances into improved cancer therapeutics, because antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) inhibitors can be designed on the basis of gene sequence information alone. Recent human clinical data have demonstrated the potent activity of systemically administered ASOs targeted to genes expressed in the liver. Here, we describe the preclinical activity and initial clinical evaluation of a class of ASOs containing constrained ethyl modifications for targeting the gene encoding the transcription factor STAT3, a notoriously difficult protein to inhibit therapeutically. Systemic delivery of the unformulated ASO, AZD9150, decreased STAT3 expression in a broad range of preclinical cancer models and showed antitumor activity in lymphoma and lung cancer models. AZD9150 preclinical activity translated into single-agent antitumor activity in patients with highly treatment-refractory lymphoma and non-small cell lung cancer in a phase I dose escalation study.

The Hippo/YAP pathway is an emerging signaling cascade involved in the regulation of stem cell activity and organ size. Alterations in Hippo signaling are also a common feature of human epithelial malignancies, although the molecular bases for this misregulation are unclear. As most of the current knowledge has been derived from work in the fruit fly, our understanding of mammalian Hippo/YAP signaling is still incomplete. To identify novel components of this pathway, we performed an RNAi-based kinome screen in human cells. Our screen identified several kinases not previously associated with Hippo signaling that strongly regulate the activity of the Hippo transducer YAP. Some of these kinases control processes such as response to stress, boundary formation, cell cycle and adhesion, and reflect novel inputs that may impinge on Hippo signaling and growth control. One of the hits, LKB1 (also known as Stk11), is a common tumor suppressor whose mechanism of action is only partially understood. We demonstrate that LKB1 acts through its substrates of the PAR-1 family (MARK1-4) to regulate the localization of the baso-lateral polarity complex and the activity of the core Hippo kinases. Murine and human LKB1-deficient tumors exhibit mislocalization of the basolateral determinant Scribble, reduced Hippo kinase activity, and enhanced YAP-driven transcription. Using xenograft assays and genetic analysis, we demonstrate that YAP is functionally important for the tumor suppressive effects of LKB1. Our results identify an important signaling axis that links YAP activation with LKB1 mutations, and have significant implications for the treatment of LKB1-mutant human malignancies. Additionally, our findings provide novel insight into the nature of inputs that speak to the Hippo/YAP signaling cascade.

SUMMARY Inflammation is a risk factor for cancer development. Individuals with preleukemic TET2 mutations manifest clonal hematopoiesis and are at a higher risk of developing leukemia. How inflammatory signals influence the survival of preleukemic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (preleukemic-HSPCs) is unclear. We show a rapid increase in the frequency and absolute number of Tet2-KO mature myeloid cells and HSPCs in response to inflammatory stress, which results in enhanced production of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, and resistance to apoptosis. IL-6 induces hyperactivation of the Shp2-Stat3 signaling axis, resulting in increased expression of a novel anti-apoptotic lncRNA, Morrbid, in Tet2-KO myeloid cells and HSPCs. Expression of activated Shp2 in HSPCs phenocopies Tet2 loss, with regard to hyperactivation of Stat3 and Morrbid. In vivo, pharmacologic inhibition of Shp2 or Stat3 or genetic loss of Morrbid in Tet2-mutant mice rescues inflammatory stress-induced abnormalities in HSPCs and mature myeloid cells including clonal hematopoiesis.

Activating mutations in PTPN11, encoding the cytosolic protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2, result in developmental disorders and act as oncogenic drivers in patients with hematologic cancers. The allosteric inhibitor SHP099 stabilizes the wild-type SHP2 enzyme in an autoinhibited conformation that is itself destabilized by oncogenic mutations. Here, we report the impact of the highly activated and most frequently observed mutation, E76K, on the structure of SHP2, and investigate the effect of E76K and other oncogenic mutations on allosteric inhibition by SHP099. SHP2E76K adopts an open conformation but can be restored to the closed, autoinhibited conformation, near-identical to the unoccupied wild-type enzyme, when complexed with SHP099. SHP099 inhibitory activity against oncogenic SHP2 variants in vitro and in cells scales inversely with the activating strength of the mutation, indicating that either oncoselective or vastly more potent inhibitors will be necessary to suppress oncogenic signaling by the most strongly activating SHP2 mutations in cancer.

Metastasis is the leading cause of morbidity for lung cancer patients. Here we demonstrate that murine tumor propagating cells (TPCs) with the markers Sca1 and CD24 are enriched for metastatic potential in orthotopic transplantation assays. CD24 knockdown decreased the metastatic potential of lung cancer cell lines resembling TPCs. In lung cancer patient data sets, metastatic spread and patient survival could be stratified with a murine lung TPC gene signature. The TPC signature was enriched for genes in the Hippo signaling pathway. Knockdown of the Hippo mediators Yap1 or Taz decreased in vitro cellular migration and transplantation of metastatic disease. Furthermore, constitutively active Yap was sufficient to drive lung tumor progression in vivo. These results demonstrate functional roles for two different pathways, CD24-dependent and Yap/Taz-dependent pathways, in lung tumor propagation and metastasis. This study demonstrates the utility of TPCs for identifying molecules contributing to metastatic lung cancer, potentially enabling the therapeutic targeting of this devastating disease.

Most anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-rearranged non-small-cell lung tumors initially respond to small-molecule ALK inhibitors, but drug resistance often develops. Of tumors that develop resistance to highly potent second-generation ALK inhibitors, approximately half harbor resistance mutations in ALK, while the other half have other mechanisms underlying resistance. Members of the latter group often have activation of at least one of several different tyrosine kinases driving resistance. Such tumors are not expected to respond to lorlatinib-a third-generation inhibitor targeting ALK that is able to overcome all clinically identified resistant mutations in ALK-and further therapeutic options are limited. Herein, we deployed a shRNA screen of 1,000 genes in multiple ALK-inhibitor-resistant patient-derived cells (PDCs) to discover those that confer sensitivity to ALK inhibition. This approach identified SHP2, a nonreceptor protein tyrosine phosphatase, as a common targetable resistance node in multiple PDCs. SHP2 provides a parallel survival input downstream of multiple tyrosine kinases that promote resistance to ALK inhibitors. Treatment with SHP099, the recently discovered small-molecule inhibitor of SHP2, in combination with the ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) ceritinib halted the growth of resistant PDCs through preventing compensatory RAS and ERK1 and ERK2 (ERK1/2) reactivation. These findings suggest that combined ALK and SHP2 inhibition may be a promising therapeutic strategy for resistant cancers driven by several different ALK-independent mechanisms underlying resistance.