Hippo signaling instructs ectopic but not normal organ growth

“Mutations that cause dysregulation of the Hippo signaling pathway are known to cause excessive growth of organs, which has led many researchers to think of this pathway as a master regulator of organ growth. Studying fruit fly eye discs and mouse livers, Kowalczyk et al. found instead that Hippo signaling does not instruct normal growth. The Hippo-induced overgrowth phenotypes appear to be caused by Hippo signaling activating abnormal genetic programs. These findings challenge a long-standing idea about the role of Hippo signaling in organ growth and suggest the need to re-evaluate our understanding of its function in other contexts, such as in cancer and regeneration.”      MORE

Image Credit:  Science.org