The Meng Lab website currently highlights published work spanning cardiac repair and regeneration, Hippo–YAP signaling, and innate immune regulation.
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Recent published work has examined the therapeutic and biological consequences of controlled YAP activation in the heart. In the CM-YAPon study published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, drug-conditional YAP activation in cardiomyocytes promoted protection against cardiac injury while altering cardiomyocyte states and the surrounding cardiac environment.
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Hippo signaling and its downstream effectors YAP and TAZ regulate diverse cellular processes. Published work has examined this pathway in cardiac biology, innate immune signaling, and host–pathogen interactions, including regulation of YAP/TEAD activity during SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Earlier studies identified mechanisms through which Hippo pathway components regulate cytosolic nucleic-acid sensing and innate immune responses. This work includes regulation of IRF3 by Mst1, YAP/TAZ-mediated control of TBK1, and phase-separation-dependent suppression of cGAS–STING signaling by mutant NF2.
In published work, CM-YAPon was developed as an AAV9-based, drug-inducible approach for transient control of YAP activity in cardiomyocytes. The study demonstrated cardiac protection following injury and provided a proof of concept for temporally controlled regenerative gene therapy.