LATS1 (Large Tumor Suppressor 1)

LATS1 tumor suppressor is a serine/threonine kinase of the AGC kinase family and a core component of the Hippo pathway in mammals. LATS1 regulates various biological processes such as cell cycle progression, genetic stability, cell motility and adhesion, apoptosis, stem cell renewal and differentiation (Visser and Yang, 2010; Mo et al., 2014). LATS1 performs these functions by phosphorylating various substrates such as transcriptional coactivators YAP and TAZ (Zhao et al., 2007; Hao et al., 2008). LATS1 is also required for tissue homeostasis in both flies and mice (Visser et al., 2010). In addition to its roles in a broad spectrum of normal biological processes, loss of LATS1 has been shown to be important for the development of cancer and resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs (Visser et al., 2010). Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying loss-of-LATS1-induced tumorigenesis and drug resistance will shed light on the design of new cancer treatment strategies in the future.