The Hippo-YAP Signaling as Guardian in the Pool of Intestinal Stem Cells

Despite endogenous insults such as mechanical stress and danger signals derived from the microbiome, the intestine can maintain its homeostatic condition through continuous self-renewal of the crypt-villus axis. This extraordinarily rapid turnover of intestinal epithelium, known to be 3 to 5 days, can be achieved by dynamic regulation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs). The crypt base-located leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5-positive (Lgr5(+)) ISCs maintain intestinal integrity in the steady state. Under severe damage leading to the loss of conventional ISCs, quiescent stem cells and even differentiated cells can be reactivated into stem-cell-like cells with multi-potency and contribute to the reconstruction of the intestinal epithelium. This process requires fine-tuning of the various signaling pathways, including the Hippo-YAP system. In this review, we summarize recent advances in understanding the correlation between Hippo-YAP signaling and intestinal homeostasis, repair, and tumorigenesis, focusing specifically on ISC regulation.