Hippo-YAP/TAZ signaling coordinates adipose plasticity and energy balance by uncoupling leptin expression from fat mass

Adipose tissue contributes to systemic energy homeostasis by serving as an energy reservoir and endocrine organ. Coordinated regulation of these functions is essential for metabolic health, but the mechanisms that underlie cross-talk between them have been unknown. Here we show that the transcriptional coregulators YAP and TAZ of the Hippo signaling pathway in adipose tissue control systemic energy balance. Mechanistically, we identify a YAP/TAZ-TEAD axis that upregulates leptin expression by directly binding to an upstream enhancer site of the leptin gene. TAZ (WWTR1) ChIP-seq data of adipocytes differentiated from C3H10T1/2 cells. RNA-seq data obtained from mouse adipose tissue (iWAT)