Newly identified evidence has put immune checkpoint inhibito

Newly identified evidence has put immune checkpoint inhibitors into the spotlight. However, even though they have been reported to achieve optimistic outcomes [67], there is still a provocative question about their limitations [68]. The solid evidence above has provided us with translational values for establishing therapeutic strategies based on Hippo pathway or its components, which might be utilized as a predominant or supplementary treatment for those who are insensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Summary and future direction In summary, Hippo's immunological image is gradually enriched by escalating research findings nowadays. Those discoveries achieved from Drosophila helps us learn more about human diseases; and those achieved from mammalians may utilize our accumulated knowledge for clinical practicing. However, several issues need to be addressed in the future studies. Firstly, due to the complicated microenvironment and multiple crosstalks of Hippo pathway, more accurate regulation cascades need to be revealed for getting a more comprehensive image of Hippo involvement in immunity. Secondly, the effect of targeted immunotherapies in vivo is waiting to be appraised and analyzed based on the accumulated evidence. Anyhow, more and more uncovered mechanisms of Hippo pathway have broadened our horizon, leading to a deeper thinking and trying for clinical practice transition.
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Introduction The mechanisms by which organ size is regulated during development and in the setting of regeneration after injury remain fundamental questions in biology. How is organ size sensed by the organism and what are the cellular effectors that mediate homeostasis? In the embryonic heart, cardiomyocyte proliferation continues through gestation and into the early post-natal period, but subsequent growth in the size of the mammalian postnatal heart is achieved largely via myocardial hypertrophy. In the setting of neonatal cardiac injury in the mouse and zebrafish, myocardial cells re-enter the Bleomycin A5 hydrochloride sale and proliferate until normal heart size is reestablished, while in the adult mouse and human, myocardial injury leads to compensatory myocardial hypertrophy in the non-injured regions of the heart (Eschenhagen et al., 2017, Laflamme and Murry, 2011, Xin et al., 2013b). The pathways and molecular signals that regulate homeostasis of heart organ size, however, remain largely unknown. The Hippo signaling pathway has been implicated in the regulation of cardiomyocyte proliferation in the embryo and in the setting of neonatal cardiac regeneration (Xin et al., 2013a). Hippo was first elucidated in Drosophila (Huang et al., 2005) where genetic screens to identify effectors of an overgrowth phenotype identified the Hippo serine/threonine kinase (Mst1/2 in mammals) and the downstream kinase Warts (Lats1/2 in mammals) that phosphorylates the transcription co-factor Yorkie (Yap/Taz in mammals) (Justice et al., 1995, Xu et al., 1995). Upstream activators of the Hippo kinase cascade remain only partially elucidated. Mechanical stress (Benham-Pyle et al., 2015, Codelia et al., 2014, Dupont et al., 2011, Kim et al., 2014, Porazinski et al., 2015) and cell contact can activate Hippo, as can G-protein coupled receptors signaling through Gα12/13 (Yu et al., 2012). In mice, the Hippo kinase cascade is required in cardiomyocytes for normal heart development (Del Re et al., 2013; Heallen et al., 2011; Lin et al., 2014; von Gise et al., 2012; Xin et al., 2013a; Xin et al., 2011). Lats phosphorylation of Yap at serine 127 sequesters Yap in the cytoplasm. When a constitutively active form of Yap (YapS127A) is forced into the nucleus and overexpressed in myocardial cells, this results in hyperproliferation of cardiomyocytes and improved regeneration after neonatal myocardial injury (Lin et al., 2014). Embryonic inactivation of Mst1/2 or Lats2 also produces cardiomyocyte hyperproliferation, increased heart size and lethality. Thus, Hippo has been implicated as a therapeutic target to modulate the regenerative response of the heart to injury and as a fundamental regulator of heart size.