Publications
bioRxivFeb 2024 DOI:
10.1101/2024.02.26.582171

MARK2/MARK3 kinases are catalytic co-dependencies of YAP/TAZ in human cancer

Klingbeil, Olaf; Skopelitis, Damianos; Tonelli, Claudia; Alpsoy, Aktan; Minicozzi, Francesca; Aggarwal, Disha; Russo, Suzanne; Ha, Taehoon; Demerdash, Osama E.; Spector, David L.; Tuveson, David A.; Cifani, Paolo; Vakoc, Christopher R.
Product Used
Oligo Pools
Abstract
The Hippo signaling pathway is commonly dysregulated in human cancer, which leads to a powerful tumor dependency on the YAP/TAZ transcriptional coactivators. Here, we used paralog co-targeting CRISPR screens to identify the kinases MARK2/3 as absolute catalytic requirements for YAP/TAZ function in diverse carcinoma and sarcoma contexts. Underlying this observation is direct MARK2/3-dependent phosphorylation of NF2 and YAP/TAZ, which effectively reverses the tumor suppressive activity of the Hippo module kinases LATS1/2. To simulate targeting of MARK2/3, we adapted the CagA protein fromH. pylorias a catalytic inhibitor of MARK2/3, which we show exerts anti-tumor activityin vivo. Together, these findings reveal MARK2/3 as powerful co-dependencies of YAP/TAZ in human cancer; targets that may allow for pharmacology that restores Hippo pathway-mediated tumor suppression.
Product Used
Oligo Pools

Related Publications