Pharmacological inhibition of CLK2 activates YAP by promoting alternative splicing of AMOTL2.
Maya L BulosEdyta M GrzelakChloris Li-MaEmily ChenMitchell HullKristen A JohnsonMichael J BollongPublished in: eLife (2023)
Yes-associated protein (YAP), the downstream effector of the evolutionarily conserved Hippo pathway, promotes cellular proliferation and coordinates certain regenerative responses in mammals. Small molecule activators of YAP may, therefore, display therapeutic utility in treating disease states involving insufficient proliferative repair. From a high-throughput chemical screen of the comprehensive drug repurposing library ReFRAME, here we report the identification of SM04690, a clinical stage inhibitor of CLK2, as a potent activator of YAP-driven transcriptional activity in cells. CLK2 inhibition promotes alternative splicing of the Hippo pathway protein AMOTL2, producing an exon-skipped gene product that can no longer associate with membrane-bound proteins, resulting in decreased phosphorylation and membrane localization of YAP. This study reveals a novel mechanism by which pharmacological perturbation of alternative splicing inactivates the Hippo pathway and promotes YAP-dependent cellular growth.
Keyphrases
- high throughput
- small molecule
- stem cells
- induced apoptosis
- transcription factor
- gene expression
- signaling pathway
- mesenchymal stem cells
- protein protein
- genome wide
- copy number
- cell proliferation
- dendritic cells
- cell death
- cell cycle arrest
- oxidative stress
- nuclear factor
- genome wide identification
- heat stress
- drug discovery