PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Matthew Grove
AU  - Hyunkyoung Lee
AU  - Young-Jin Son
TI  - Axon-dependent expression of YAP/TAZ mediates Schwann cell remyelination but not proliferation after nerve injury
AID  - 10.1101/851618
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 851618
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/21/851618.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/21/851618.full
AB  - YAP and TAZ are transcriptional regulators that powerfully stimulate cell proliferation, which drives developmental or tumorigenic tissue growth. Previously we showed that YAP/TAZ initiate and maintain Schwann cell (SC) differentiation, thereby forming and maintaining myelin sheath around peripheral axons (Grove et al., 2017). Here we show that YAP/TAZ are required for SCs to restore peripheral myelination after nerve injury. We find that YAP/TAZ dramatically disappear from denervated, proliferating SCs of adult mice after peripheral nerve injury. They reappear in SCs as axons regenerate. YAP/TAZ ablation does not impair SC proliferation or transdifferentiation into growth promoting repair SCs. SCs lacking YAP/TAZ, however, fail to upregulate myelin-associated genes and completely fail to remyelinate regenerated axons. We also show that both YAP and TAZ are required for optimal remyelination. These findings indicate that axons regulate transcriptional activity of YAP/TAZ in adult SCs and that YAP/TAZ are essential for functional regeneration of peripheral nerve.