Deciphering the involvement of the Hippo pathway co - regulators, YAP/TAZ in invadopodia formation and matrix degradation

Invadopodia are adhesive, actin - rich pro trusions , formed by metastatic cancer cells , that degrade the extracellular matrix and facilitate invasion . They support the metastatic cascade by a spatially and temporally coordinated process where by invading cells bind to the matrix , degrade it by speci fic metalloproteinases , and mechanically penetrate diverse tissue ba rriers by forming actin - rich extensions . However, despite the apparent involvement of invadopodia in the metasta t i c process , the molecular mechanisms that regulate invadopodia formation an d function are still largely unclear. In this study, we have explored the involvement of the key Hippo pathway co - regulators , namely YAP , and TAZ , in invadopodia formation and matrix degradation. Towards that goal, we tested the effect of depletion of YAP, TAZ , or both on invadopodia formation and activity in multiple human cancer cell lines. We report that knockdown of YAP and TAZ or their inh ibit ion by verteporfin indu ce a significant elevation in matrix degradation and invadopodia formation in several ca ncer cell lines . Conversely , o verexpression of these proteins strongly suppress es invadopodia formation and matrix degradation . Proteomic and transcriptomic profiling of MDA - MB - 231 cells , following co - knockdown of YAP and TAZ , revealed a significant change in the levels of key invadopodia - associated proteins, including the crucial proteins Tks5 and MT1 - MMP (MMP14). Collectively, our findings show that YAP and TAZ act as negative regulators of invadopodia formation in diverse cancer lines, most likely by red ucing the levels of essential invadopodia components. Dissecting the molecular mechanisms of invadopodia formation in cancer invasion may eventually reveal novel targets for therapeutic applications against invasive cancer