The Hippo signal pathway was originally identified in Drosophila and later in mammals as regulator of organ size in animals. Later studies showed that this pathway plays critical roles in a wide range of biological functions including development, tissue homeostasis, tumorigenesis, drug resistance, mechanotransduction, heart development and disease, and neuronal fate and dendrite tilling. In this talk, Dr. Yang will present findings from his lab in exploring the Hippo signalling pathway in various biological functions using gene expression profile (microarray, RNA-seq, and NanoString), proteomics (SILAC and Bio-ID), bioluminescent biosensor, and CRISPR gene editing functional genomics technologies.

Since the accidental discovery of polyisoprenoids in cellulose pulp extracts almost 60 years ago, the widespread occurrence of these compounds has been reported throughout the plant kingdom.   Yet, questions still remain about how plant polyisoprenoids are synthesized, where they reside in the cell and what functional role they serve.  This seminar will highlight some of our most recent findings about this historically enigmatic class of plant compounds and present evidence for a more evolutionary conserved role for polyisoprenoids than previously thought.