Cell adhesion molecule KIRREL1 is a feedback regulator of Hippo signaling recruiting SAV1 to cell-cell contact sites

• Published in: Nature communications 2022-02, Vol.13 (1), p.930-930, Article 930
• Main Authors: Paul, Atanu, Annunziato, Stefano, Lu, Bo, Sun, Tianliang, Evrova, Olivera, Planas-Paz, Lara, Orsini, Vanessa, Terracciano, Luigi M., Charlat, Olga, Loureiro, Zinger Yang, Ji, Lei, Zamponi, Raffaella, Sigoillot, Frederic, Lei, Hong, Lindeman, Alicia, Russ, Carsten, Reece-Hoyes, John S., Nicholson, Thomas B., Tchorz, Jan S., Cong, Feng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/106; 13/89; 13/95; 14/19; 49/31; 631/208/4041/3196; 631/80/79; 631/80/83/2360; 631/80/86; 64/60; 82/51; 82/83; 96/106; 96/34; Ablation; Adhesion; Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Animals; Cell adhesion; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell adhesion molecules; Cell Communication; Cell Cycle Proteins - genetics; Cell Cycle Proteins - metabolism; Cell growth; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; CRISPR; Epithelial cells; Epithelium; Feedback; Feedback, Physiological; Female; Gene Knockout Techniques; HEK293 Cells; Hepatocytes; Hippo Signaling Pathway; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Kinases; Male; Mammals; Membrane proteins; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Recruitment; Regeneration; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Signal transduction; Signaling; YAP-Signaling Proteins - metabolism; Yes-associated protein
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28567-3

The Hippo/YAP pathway controls cell proliferation through sensing physical and spatial organization of cells. How cell-cell contact is sensed by Hippo signaling is poorly understood. Here, we identified the cell adhesion molecule KIRREL1 as an upstream positive regulator of the mammalian Hippo pathway. KIRREL1 physically interacts with SAV1 and recruits SAV1 to cell-cell contact sites. Consistent with the hypothesis that KIRREL1-mediated cell adhesion suppresses YAP activity, knockout of KIRREL1 increases YAP activity in neighboring cells. Analyzing pan-cancer CRISPR proliferation screen data reveals KIRREL1 as the top plasma membrane protein showing strong correlation with known Hippo regulators, highlighting a critical role of KIRREL1 in regulating Hippo signaling and cell proliferation. During liver regeneration in mice, KIRREL1 is upregulated, and its genetic ablation enhances hepatic YAP activity, hepatocyte reprogramming and biliary epithelial cell proliferation. Our data suggest that KIRREL1 functions as a feedback regulator of the mammalian Hippo pathway through sensing cell-cell interaction and recruiting SAV1 to cell-cell contact sites. How cell-cell contact is sensed by Hippo pathway is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that KIRREL1 functions as a feedback regulator of the mammalian Hippo pathway by sensing cell-cell interaction and recruiting SAV1 to cell-cell contacts.