Tehran University of Medical Sciences International Journal of Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Research 2008-2207 12 2 2018 04 05 153 164 EN Madhumala Gopinath Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Rosa Liddo Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy Francesco Marotta ReGenera R&D International for Aging Intervention, Milano-Beijing, Italy-China, VCC Preventive Medical Promotion Foundation, Beijing, China Ramachandran Murugesan Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Antara Banerjee Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Sushmitha Sriramulu Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Ganesan Jothimani Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Vimala Devi Subramaniam Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Srinivasan Narasimhan Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Swarna Priya K Department of Gynecology and Pediatrics, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India Xiao-Feng Sun Department of Oncology and Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Linköping, Linköping, Sweden Surajit Pathak Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603103, India 2017 03 28 2018 01 07 Tafazzin (TAZ) protein has been upregulated in various types of human cancers, although the basis for elevation is uncertain, it has been made definite that the effect of mutation in the hippo pathway, particularly when it is switched off, considerably activates tafazzin transcriptionally and thus this results in tissue or tumor overgrowth. Recent perceptions into the activity of tafazzin, have ascribed to it, a role as stem cell factor in mouse mesenchymal and as well as in neural stem cells. Being a downstream molecule in Hippo signalling, phosphorylation or dephosphorylation of tafazzin gene regulates its transcriptional activity and the stemness of mesenchymal stem cells. Commonly, extracellular matrix controls the stem cell fate commitment and perhaps tafazzin controls stemness through altering the extra cellular matrix. Extracellular matrix is generally made up of prime proteoglycans and the fate stabilization of the resulting lineages is surveilled by engineering these glycans. Tafazzin degradation and addition of proteoglycans affect physical attributes of the extracellular matrix that drives cell differentiation into various lineages. Thus, tafazzin along with major glycans present in the extracellular matrix is involved in imparting stemness. However, there are incoherent molecular events, wherein both tafazzin and the extracellular matrix components, together either activate or inhibit differentiation of stem cells. This review discusses about the role of tafazzin oncoprotein as a stemness factor. https://ijhoscr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijhoscr/article/view/778 https://ijhoscr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijhoscr/article/download/778/617