Melanoma antigen family a, 8 explained

Melanoma antigen family A, 8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MAGEA8 gene.^[1]

Function

This gene is a member of the MAGEA gene family. The members of this family encode proteins with 50 to 80% sequence identity to each other. The promoters and first exons of the MAGEA genes show considerable variability, suggesting that the existence of this gene family enables the same function to be expressed under different transcriptional controls. The MAGEA genes are clustered at chromosomal location Xq28. They have been implicated in some hereditary disorders, such as dyskeratosis congenita. Multiple alternatively spliced variants, encoding the same protein, have been identified.

Further reading

• De Plaen E, Arden K, Traversari C, Gaforio JJ, Szikora JP, De Smet C, Brasseur F, van der Bruggen P, Lethé B, Lurquin C . Structure, chromosomal localization, and expression of 12 genes of the MAGE family . Immunogenetics . 40 . 5 . 360–9 . 1994 . 7927540 . 10.1007/BF01246677 . 11331427 .
• Rogner UC, Wilke K, Steck E, Korn B, Poustka A . The melanoma antigen gene (MAGE) family is clustered in the chromosomal band Xq28 . Genomics . 29 . 3 . 725–31 . October 1995 . 8575766 . 10.1006/geno.1995.9945 .
• Serrano A, Lethé B, Delroisse JM, Lurquin C, De Plaen E, Brasseur F, Rimoldi D, Boon T . Quantitative evaluation of the expression of MAGE genes in tumors by limiting dilution of cDNA libraries . International Journal of Cancer . 83 . 5 . 664–9 . November 1999 . 10521804 . 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0215(19991126)83:5<664::AID-IJC16>3.0.CO;2-V . free .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: Melanoma antigen family A, 8. 2014-08-25 .