THE HIPPO PATHWAY AND MELANOMA GROWTH

Abstract

An exciting area of drug discovery involves targeting Hippo pathway proteins, particularly one called YAP, which were discovered by members of our research team and which are highly active in some cancer cells, making them grow and spread. We will test whether YAP is a potential drug target to prevent or treat melanoma, a deadly type of cancer that usually arises in the skin but also internal organs and the eye. If so, we would fast-track these drugs for testing in patients via clinical trials.

Related publications (1)

The Hippo pathway oncoprotein YAP promotes melanoma cell invasion and spontaneous metastasis

Xiaomeng Zhang, Lie Yang, Pacman Szeto, Gamze Kuser Abali, Youfang Zhang, Aishwarya Kulkarni, Kaushalya Amarasinghe, Jason Li, Ismael A Vergara, Ramyar Molania, Anthony T Papenfuss, Catriona McLean, Mark Shackleton, Kieran F Harvey

2020-06-19

Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer that accounts for a disproportionally large proportion of cancer-related deaths in younge..