PTEN was identified as a tumor suppressor that is mutated in a large number of cancers at high frequency. Pphosphatase and tensin homolog encoded by PTEN is a phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate 3-phosphatase. It contains a tensin like domain as well as a catalytic domain similar to that of the dual specificity protein tyrosine phosphatases. Unlike most of the protein tyrosine phosphatases, t phosphatase and tensin homolog preferentially dephosphorylates phosphoinositide substrates. It negatively regulates intracellular levels of phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate in cells and functions as a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating AKT/PKB signaling pathway. The use of a non-canonical (CUG) upstream initiation site produces a longer isoform that initiates translation with a leucine, and is thought to be preferentially associated with the mitochondrial inner membrane. This longer isoform may help regulate energy metabolism in the mitochondria. A pseudogene of PTEN is found on chromosome 9. Alternative splicing and the use of multiple translation start codons results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms.