TMS1/ASC: The cancer connection

TMS1/ ASC is a bipartite protein comprising two protein-protein interaction domains, a pyrin domain ( PYD) and a caspase recruitment domain ( CARD). Proteins containing these domains play pivotal roles in regulating apoptosis and immune response pathways, and mutations in a number of PYD- and CARD- containing proteins have been linked to autoinflammatory diseases and cancer. Indeed, one of the ways in which TMS1/ ASC was identified was as a target of methylation- mediated silencing in breast cancer cells. This review discusses the mounting evidence supporting a correlation between the silencing of TMS1/ ASC expression and cancer. In addition, it addresses the reported functions of TMS1/ ASC that include apoptosis, activation of inflammatory caspases and regulation of NF- kappa B, and discusses the potential ways in which loss of TMS1/ ASC contributes to carcinogenesis.