Cancer associated talin point mutations disorganise cell adhesion and migration

Talin–1 is a key component of the multiprotein adhesion complexes which mediate cell migration, adhesion and integrin signalling and has been linked to cancer in several studies. We analysed talin–1 mutations reported in the COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer) database and developed a bioinformatics pipeline to predict the severity of each mutation. These predictions were then assessed using biochemistry and cell biology experiments. With this approach we were able to identify several talin–1 mutations affecting integrin activity, actin recruitment and Deleted in Liver Cancer 1 localization. We explored potential changes in talin–1 signalling responses by assessing impact on migration, invasion and proliferation. Altogether, this study describes a pipeline approach of experiments for crude characterization of talin–1 mutants in order to evaluate their functional effects and potential pathogenicity. Our findings suggest that cancer related point mutations in talin–1 can affect cell behaviour and so may contribute to cancer progression.