title: How do tenascins influence the birth and life of a malignant cell?
abstract: Tenascins are large glycoproteins found in embryonic and adult extracellular matrices. Of the four family members, two have been shown to be overexpressed in the microenvironment of solid tumours: tenascin-C and tenascin-W. The regular presence of these proteins in tumours suggests a role in tumourigenesis, which has been investigated intensively for tenascin-C and recently for tenascin-W as well. In this review, we follow a malignant cell starting from its birth through its potential metastatic journey and describe how tenascin-C and tenascin-W contribute to these successive steps of tumourigenesis. We consider the importance of the mechanical aspect in tenascin signalling. Furthermore, we discuss studies describing tenascin-C as an important component of stem cell niches and present examples reporting its role in cancer therapy resistance.
authors.affiliation: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Novartis Research Foundation, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brellier
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chiquet-Ehrismann
mesh_terms: D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D055153:Stem Cell Niche; D019063:Tenascin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D019063:Tenascin