title: Tenascins and the importance of adhesion modulation.
abstract: Tenascins are a family of extracellular matrix proteins that evolved in early chordates. There are four family members: tenascin-X, tenascin-R, tenascin-W, and tenascin-C. Tenascin-X associates with type I collagen, and its absence can cause Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In contrast, tenascin-R is concentrated in perineuronal nets. The expression of tenascin-C and tenascin-W is developmentally regulated, and both are expressed during disease (e.g., both are associated with cancer stroma and tumor blood vessels). In addition, tenascin-C is highly induced by infections and inflammation. Accordingly, the tenascin-C knockout mouse has a reduced inflammatory response. All tenascins have the potential to modify cell adhesion either directly or through interaction with fibronectin, and cell-tenascin interactions typically lead to increased cell motility. In the case of tenascin-C, there is a correlation between elevated expression and increased metastasis in several types of tumors.
authors: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Novartis Research Foundation, Basel, Switzerland. ruth.chiquet@fmi.ch
authors: Ruth
authors: R
authors: Chiquet-Ehrismann
authors: Richard P
authors: RP
authors: Tucker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010802:Phylogeny; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019063:Tenascin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D019063:Tenascin; D014157:Transcription Factors