We show here the exemplar that nuclear FAK, as part of a nuclear adhesion protein network, forms a compensatory association with Hic-5 to co-regulate the expression of a subset of cytoskeletal and adhesion proteins that can localise to the nucleus; this adds to our understanding of the mechanisms by which nuclear FAK is known to affect transcription and cancer cell communication with the extracellular environment25–28. Here, PTK2 is linked to cancer.