Tan Shumei, Jiang Xiaodan, Liu Ziyuan, Li Xuemin
Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Restoration of Damaged Ocular Nerve, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2025 Mar 24;13:1524814. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1524814. eCollection 2025.
The Hippo/YAP pathway is a signaling pathway that plays an important role in cell proliferation, survival, differentiation, cell fate determination, organ size, and tissue homeostasis. Lens epithelial cells (LECs), located on the anterior surface of the lens, are the parental cells responsible for growth and development of the transparent ocular lens. During lens development, LECs undergo a process of differentiation where they exit the cell cycle and transform into lens fiber cells (LFCs), which constitute the majority of the lens structure. YAP is involved in the proliferation and differentiation of LECs, the maintenance of nuclear morphology, cell polarity, cell apical polarity complex, and connexin morphology. The role of the ordered arrangement of LFCs has been demonstrated in several animal studies, and heterozygous deletion mice exhibit cataracts. The mechanism of the Hippo/YAP pathway in the physiological activities and lesions of LECs is complex, which is of great significance to understanding the development of the lens and the pathogenesis of lens-related diseases.
Hippo/YAP信号通路是一条在细胞增殖、存活、分化、细胞命运决定、器官大小和组织内稳态中起重要作用的信号通路。晶状体上皮细胞（LECs）位于晶状体前表面，是负责透明眼晶状体生长和发育的亲代细胞。在晶状体发育过程中，LECs经历一个分化过程，在此过程中它们退出细胞周期并转化为晶状体纤维细胞（LFCs），LFCs构成了晶状体结构的大部分。YAP参与LECs的增殖和分化、核形态的维持、细胞极性、细胞顶端极性复合体和连接蛋白形态。LFCs有序排列的作用已在多项动物研究中得到证实，杂合缺失小鼠表现出白内障。Hippo/YAP信号通路在LECs生理活动和病变中的机制复杂，这对于理解晶状体发育和晶状体相关疾病的发病机制具有重要意义。
