The role of tensins in malignant neoplasms

Tensins belong to the family of adhesion proteins which form focal adhesions serving as a bridge between the extracellular matrix and intracellular actin skeleton. The tensin family consists of four members (tensin-1 to -4) which are widely expressed in normal and cancerous tissues. The presence of Src homology 2 and phosphotyrosine binding domains is a unique feature of tensins which enables them to interact with tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in PI3K/Akt and β-integrin/FAK signaling pathways. The tensin-mediated signaling pathway regulates physiological processes including cell motility and cytoskeleton integrity. The expression of tensins varies among cancers. Several papers report tensins as tumor suppressive proteins, whereas tensins may promote epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer cell metastasis. Recent findings and further research on tensins as therapeutic targets in cancers may contribute to identifying effective anti-cancer therapy. In this review we focus on the role of tensins in normal and cancer cells. We discuss potential mechanism(s) involved in carcinogenesis.