Yes-Associated Protein Promotes the Development of Condyloma Acuminatum through EGFR Pathway Activation

Objective: Investigate the role of Yes-associated protein (YAP1) in the development of condyloma acuminatum (CA). Methods: We enrolled 30 male patients with CA and 20 healthy individuals as a control group, to compare the YAP1 expression in their tissue samples. Following this, we overexpressed and downregulated YAP1 expression in HaCaT cells to examine the migratory, proliferative, and apoptotic potential of HaCaT cells expressing different levels of YAP1. Results: In the CA patient tissue samples, an increase in YAP1 expression can be observed. In vitro, the overexpression of YAP1 was shown to promote the growth and migration of HaCaT cells and to activate epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway-associated proteins, while the downregulation of YAP1 inhibited cell growth and migration of these cells. Conclusions: YAP1 promotes the growth of keratinocytes in CA through the activation of the EGFR pathway, and it may mediate the development of human papilloma virus-associated diseases. (C) 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel