Amot regulates neuronal dendritic tree through Yap1

Abstract

The Amot-Yap1 complex plays a major role in the regulation of cell contact inhibition, cellular polarity and growth. However, the function of Angiomotin (Amot) and Hippo pathway transcription co-activator Yap1 in the central nervous system remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that Amot is a critical mediator of dendritic morphogenesis in cultured hippocampal cells and Purkinje cells in the brain. Amot function in developing hippocampal neurons depends on interactions with Yap1, which is also indispensable for dendrite growth and arborization in vitro. Conditional deletion of Amot or Yap1 in neurons leads to impaired morphogenesis of Purkinje cell dendritic trees, decreased cerebellar size, and causes defects in locomotor coordination of mutant animals. Thus, our studies identified Amot and Yap1 as novel regulators of dendritic tree morphogenesis.