Yes-associated protein (YAP) and TAZ (WW domain containing transcription regulator 1, or WWTR1) are paralog transcriptional regulators, able to integrate mechanical, metabolic, and signaling inputs to regulate cell growth and differentiation during development and neoplastic progression. YAP and TAZ hold common and distinctive structural features, reflecting only partially overlapping regulatory mechanisms. The two paralogs interact with both shared and specific transcriptional partners and control nonidentical transcriptional programs. Although most of the available literature considers YAP and TAZ as functionally redundant, they play distinctive or even contrasting roles in different contexts. The issue of their divergent roles is currently underexplored but holds fundamental implications for mechanistic and translational studies. Here, we aim to review the available literature on the biological functions of YAP and TAZ, highlighting differential roles that distinguish these two paralogues.

Yes 相关蛋白 (YAP) 和 TAZ（包含转录调节因子 1 的 WW 结构域，或 WWTR1）是旁系同源转录调节因子，能够整合机械、代谢和信号输入，以在发育和肿瘤进展过程中调节细胞生长和分化。YAP 和 TAZ 具有共同和独特的结构特征，仅反映了部分重叠的监管机制。这两个旁系同源物与共享的和特定的转录伙伴相互作用，并控制不同的转录程序。尽管大多数可用文献都认为 YAP 和 TAZ 在功能上是多余的，但它们在不同的上下文中扮演着独特甚至相反的角色。它们不同作用的问题目前尚未得到充分探索，但对机械和转化研究具有根本意义。这里，