MAL (gene) explained

Myelin and lymphocyte protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MAL gene.^[1]

Function

The protein encoded by this gene is a highly hydrophobic integral membrane protein belonging to the MAL family of proteolipids. The protein has been localized to the endoplasmic reticulum of T-cells and is a candidate linker protein in T-cell signal transduction. In addition, this proteolipid is localized in compact myelin of cells in the nervous system and has been implicated in myelin biogenesis and/or function. The protein plays a role in the formation, stabilization and maintenance of glycosphingolipid-enriched membrane microdomains. Alternative splicing produces four transcript variants which vary from each other by the presence or absence of alternatively spliced exons 2 and 3. The MAL protein is also thought to interact with the protein encoded by LSMEM1 based on two-hybrid screening.^[2]

References

Further reading

• Frank M . MAL, a proteolipid in glycosphingolipid enriched domains: functional implications in myelin and beyond . Progress in Neurobiology . 60 . 6 . 531–44 . Apr 2000 . 10739088 . 10.1016/S0301-0082(99)00039-8 . 46329654 .
• Alonso MA, Barton DE, Francke U . Assignment of the T-cell differentiation gene MAL to human chromosome 2, region cen----q13 . Immunogenetics . 27 . 2 . 91–5 . 1988 . 3257199 . 10.1007/BF00351081 . 30129595 .
• Alonso MA, Weissman SM . cDNA cloning and sequence of MAL, a hydrophobic protein associated with human T-cell differentiation . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 84 . 7 . 1997–2001 . Apr 1987 . 3494249 . 304570 . 10.1073/pnas.84.7.1997 . 1987PNAS...84.1997A . free .
• Rancaño C, Rubio T, Alonso MA . Alternative splicing of human T-cell-specific MAL mRNA and its correlation with the exon/intron organization of the gene . Genomics . 21 . 2 . 447–50 . May 1994 . 8088843 . 10.1006/geno.1994.1294 .
• Rancaño C, Rubio T, Correas I, Alonso MA . Genomic structure and subcellular localization of MAL, a human T-cell-specific proteolipid protein . The Journal of Biological Chemistry . 269 . 11 . 8159–64 . Mar 1994 . 10.1016/S0021-9258(17)37174-0 . 8132541 . free .
• Millán J, Puertollano R, Fan L, Rancaño C, Alonso MA . The MAL proteolipid is a component of the detergent-insoluble membrane subdomains of human T-lymphocytes . The Biochemical Journal . 321 (Pt 1) . 1 . 247–52 . Jan 1997 . 9003426 . 1218061 . 10.1042/bj3210247.
• Millán J, Puertollano R, Fan L, Alonso MA . Caveolin and MAL, two protein components of internal detergent-insoluble membranes, are in distinct lipid microenvironments in MDCK cells . Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications . 233 . 3 . 707–12 . Apr 1997 . 9168919 . 10.1006/bbrc.1997.6530 .
• Martín-Belmonte F, Kremer L, Albar JP, Marazuela M, Alonso MA . Expression of the MAL gene in the thyroid: the MAL proteolipid, a component of glycolipid-enriched membranes, is apically distributed in thyroid follicles . Endocrinology . 139 . 4 . 2077–84 . Apr 1998 . 9528996 . 10.1210/endo.139.4.5875 . free .
• Köhler C, Håkansson A, Svanborg C, Orrenius S, Zhivotovsky B . Protease activation in apoptosis induced by MAL . Experimental Cell Research . 249 . 2 . 260–8 . Jun 1999 . 10366425 . 10.1006/excr.1999.4472 .
• Frank M, Schaeren-Wiemers N, Schneider R, Schwab ME . Developmental expression pattern of the myelin proteolipid MAL indicates different functions of MAL for immature Schwann cells and in a late step of CNS myelinogenesis . Journal of Neurochemistry . 73 . 2 . 587–97 . Aug 1999 . 10428054 . 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1999.0730587.x . free .
• Puertollano R, Alonso MA . MAL, an integral element of the apical sorting machinery, is an itinerant protein that cycles between the trans-Golgi network and the plasma membrane . Molecular Biology of the Cell . 10 . 10 . 3435–47 . Oct 1999 . 10512878 . 25613 . 10.1091/mbc.10.10.3435 .
• Erne B, Sansano S, Frank M, Schaeren-Wiemers N . Rafts in adult peripheral nerve myelin contain major structural myelin proteins and myelin and lymphocyte protein (MAL) and CD59 as specific markers . Journal of Neurochemistry . 82 . 3 . 550–62 . Aug 2002 . 12153479 . 10.1046/j.1471-4159.2002.00987.x . 39619359 . free .
• Copie-Bergman C, Plonquet A, Alonso MA, Boulland ML, Marquet J, Divine M, Möller P, Leroy K, Gaulard P . MAL expression in lymphoid cells: further evidence for MAL as a distinct molecular marker of primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphomas . Modern Pathology . 15 . 11 . 1172–80 . Nov 2002 . 12429796 . 10.1097/01.MP.0000032534.81894.B3 . free .
• Kazemi-Noureini S, Colonna-Romano S, Ziaee AA, Malboobi MA, Yazdanbod M, Setayeshgar P, Maresca B . Differential gene expression between squamous cell carcinoma of esophageus and its normal epithelium; altered pattern of mal, akr1c2, and rab11a expression . World Journal of Gastroenterology . 10 . 12 . 1716–21 . Jun 2004 . 15188492 . 4572255 . 10.3748/wjg.v10.i12.1716 . free .
• Llorente A, de Marco MC, Alonso MA . Caveolin-1 and MAL are located on prostasomes secreted by the prostate cancer PC-3 cell line . Journal of Cell Science . 117 . Pt 22 . 5343–51 . Oct 2004 . 15466889 . 10.1242/jcs.01420 . 13354323 .
• Dukhovny A, Goldstein Magal L, Hirschberg K . The MAL proteolipid restricts detergent-mediated membrane pore expansion and percolation . Molecular Membrane Biology . 23 . 3 . 245–57 . 2006 . 16785208 . 10.1080/09687860600601445 . 22747639 . free .
• Mimori K, Nishida K, Nakamura Y, Ieta K, Yoshikawa Y, Sasaki A, Ishii H, Alonso MA, Mori M . Loss of MAL expression in precancerous lesions of the esophagus . Annals of Surgical Oncology . 14 . 5 . 1670–7 . May 2007 . 17151798 . 10.1245/s10434-006-9064-2 . 7756279 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: MAL mal, T-cell differentiation protein.
2. Web site: LSMEM1 . BioGRID . 30 April 2015 .