{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T10:35:16Z","timestamp":1787567716664,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787356800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Gansu Provincial Seed Industry Key Research Project","award":["ZYGG-2025-6"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZYGG-2025-6"]}]},{"name":"Gansu Provincial Longyuan Young Talent Program","award":["LYYC-2025-06"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LYYC-2025-06"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cumulus expansion is important for oocyte maturation, but its molecular regulation in yak remains unclear. This study examined the association of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) with cumulus expansion-related and autophagy-related molecular markers in cumulus cells isolated from yak cumulus\u2013oocyte complexes collected from ovarian follicles. YAP1 was overexpressed or knocked down, and YAP1-overexpressing cultures were additionally treated with 3-methyladenine (3-MA). Transcript abundance was assessed by RT-qPCR and interpreted descriptively, whereas protein abundance was evaluated by Western blotting; representative immunofluorescence and mCherry-GFP-LC3B images were also examined. YAP1 overexpression significantly increased HAS2 and PTGS2 protein abundance, while PTX3 and TNFAIP6 showed non-significant upward trends; YAP1 knockdown significantly reduced all four proteins. YAP1 manipulation was also associated with changes in Beclin-1, ATG5, p62, and the LC3B-II\/LC3B-I ratio. Compared with YAP1 overexpression alone, 3-MA co-treatment significantly reduced HAS2, PTGS2, PTX3, TNFAIP6, Beclin-1, and ATG5, increased p62, and numerically reduced the LC3B-II\/LC3B-I ratio without statistical significance. These findings support an association between YAP1 and cumulus expansion-related molecular programs and are consistent with partial involvement of 3-MA-sensitive, autophagy-associated signaling. Direct functional assays and pathway-specific validation are required to establish causality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16172636","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T09:20:02Z","timestamp":1787563202000},"page":"2636","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["YAP1 Is Associated with Cumulus Expansion-Related Factor Expression and Autophagy-Related Signaling in Yak Cumulus Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Tiantian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4919-549X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Meng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"},{"name":"Gansu Livestock Embryo Engineering Technology Innovation Center, Lanzhou 730070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tingting","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qiyong","family":"Zuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"},{"name":"Gansu Livestock Embryo Engineering Technology Innovation Center, Lanzhou 730070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"},{"name":"Gansu Livestock Embryo Engineering Technology Innovation Center, Lanzhou 730070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Libin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yangyang","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730000, China"},{"name":"Gansu Livestock Embryo Engineering Technology Innovation Center, Lanzhou 730070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117548","DOI":"10.1016\/j.theriogenology.2025.117548","article-title":"Activation of YAP1 and TAZ enhances the in vitro maturation of yak oocytes and influences subsequent embryonic development","volume":"246","author":"Zhong","year":"2025","journal-title":"Theriogenology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ma, X., Wang, M., Wang, J., Han, X., Yang, X., Zhang, H., Zhong, D., Qiu, S., Yu, S., and Wang, L. 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