Yap splicing isoforms, expression, and activation levels determine ESC self-renewal efficiency, differentiation, and trans-differentiation.

Yap is the key effector of Hippo signaling. However, the role of Yap in embryonic stem cells (ESC) is not well defined. Based on the construction of ESC lines with conditional YAP expression, we analysed the transcriptome profiling of ESCs upon YAP knock-out (KO) or over-expression (OE). In YAP KO ESCs, the differentially expressed genes were enriched for the regulation of apoptotic signaling pathway, growth and organ development. In YAP OE ESCs, the differentially expressed genes were enriched in histone modification and metabolic processes.