Abstract: Hippo signaling pathway was first discovered in Drosophila as regulator of cell proliferation and apoptosis during development. It has been widely reported that Hippo signaling pathway plays an essential role in embryonic differentiation, pattern formation and adult cell homeostasis. Furthermore, Hippo signaling has close correlation with Wnt and Notch signaling pathways, and has an important effect on tumor initiation and progression. Recent studies have shown that the Drosophila Hippo signaling pathway is highly conserved over evolutionary time, the mammalian Hippo signaling pathway has been implicated in regulating cell contact inhibition, organsize and tumorigenesis. This review firstly focuses on the composition, regulatory mechanism and physiological functions of mammalian Hippo signaling pathway, and then lists the relationship with other signaling pathways and protein factors, and tumors in mammals. Finally, the therapeutic approaches to targeting Hippo signaling pathway components or regulators have also been summarized, which might be beneficial to tumor therapeutic intervention.

Key words: mammalian, Hippo signaling pathway, tumor