- Yu, Fa-Xing;
- Luo, Jing;
- Mo, Jung-Soon;
- Liu, Guangbo;
- Kim, Young Chul;
- Meng, Zhipeng;
- Zhao, Ling;
- Peyman, Gholam;
- Ouyang, Hong;
- Jiang, Wei;
- Zhao, Jiagang;
- Chen, Xu;
- Zhang, Liangfang;
- Wang, Cun-Yu;
- Bastian, Boris C;
- Zhang, Kang;
- Guan, Kun-Liang
Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common cancer in adult eyes. Approximately 80% of UMs harbor somatic activating mutations in GNAQ or GNA11 (encoding Gq or G11, respectively). Herein, we show in both cell culture and human tumors that cancer-associated Gq/11 mutants activate YAP, a major effector of the Hippo tumor suppressor pathway that is also regulated by G protein-coupled receptor signaling. YAP mediates the oncogenic activity of mutant Gq/11 in UM development, and the YAP inhibitor verteporfin blocks tumor growth of UM cells containing Gq/11 mutations. This study reveals an essential role of the Hippo-YAP pathway in Gq/11-induced tumorigenesis and suggests YAP as a potential drug target for UM patients carrying mutations in GNAQ or GNA11.