The tenascin-W gene consists of 19 exons spanning 80.21 kb of genomic DNA.

5005 bp mRNA transcribed in centromeric to telomeric orientation on the forward strand; 3885 bp open reading frame.
The transcript starts with a non-coding exon followed by exon 2, which contains the start codon (ATG) for translation initiation. Exon 1 is located 9448 bp upstream of exon 2.

Tenascin-W is built up of different structural motifs arranged in a linear order, namely amino-terminal heptad repeats, 3.5 EGF-like repeats, 9 FN III domains, and a carboxyl-terminal fibrinogen globe.
The primary sequence encodes a protein of 1294 amino acids. Amino acids 1-16 represent the secretion signal, amino acids 150-254 constitute the EGF-like repeats, and amino acids 255-1054 account for the FNIII domains. FN III domain number 3 was subject to duplication as indicated by the dark boxes in the schematic representation. Tenascin-W is known to form hexameric structures called hexabrachions.
SDS-Page analysis revealed a molecular weight of 160kDa per subunit under reducing conditions.
So far, there is no evidence for alternative splicing.

Initially, tenascin-W was identified in zebrafish where it was expressed in migrating cells of sclerotomal and neural crest origin. More recently, tenascin-W was characterized in mouse and chicken during embryogenesis as well as in the adult organism. These studies revealed that tenascin-W, similar to tenascin-C, shows tight regulation during development and in the adult. Immunohistochemistry showed prominent expression in the developing and adult metanephric kidney, developing and adult periosteum around ribs, and transient expression in smooth muscles of the developing gut, often but not always overlapping with tenascin-C expression. Furthermore, tenascin-W is highly expressed in the tumor stroma in different solid tumors.
Tenascin-W is most likely produced and secreted by mesenchymal cells such as fibroblasts and osteoblasts.
Known stimuli that induce tenascin-W expression include so far tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2).

Extracellular matrix.

Adhesion: Tenascin-W is an adhesive substratum for some cells (osteoblasts, fibroblasts), while others cannot attach and spread on tenascin-W.
Migration: Tenascin-W stimulates the migratory behavior of cells.

Tenascin-W belongs to the tenascin family, which is a highly conserved family of large oligomeric extracellular matrix proteins. Vertebrate genomes harbor four tenascin genes, which have been termed tenascin-C, tenascin-XB (TNXB), tenascin-R, and tenascin-W.
Human tenascin-W shows high sequence conservation with mouse tenascin-W.