title: Two members of the human MAGEB gene family located in Xp21.3 are expressed in tumors of various histological origins.
abstract: Genes of the MAGE family direct the expression of tumor antigens recognized on a human melanoma by autologous cytolytic T lymphocytes. Twelve closely related MAGE genes are located in the Xq28 region. These genes share 60-98% nucleotide identity in their coding region. The presence of homologous genes in a region of Xp21.3 has been reported previously. We obtained the complete sequence of a 42-kb stretch of this region. It contains four MAGE-related genes, which we propose to name MAGE-B1, B2, B3, and B4 (HGMW-approved symbols MAGEB1, MAGEB2, MAGEB3, and MAGEB4). The coding regions of these genes share 66-81% nucleotide identity and show 45-63% identity with those of the MAGE genes located in Xq28. Like the MAGE genes located in Xq28, the MAGE-B genes are silent in normal tissues with the exception of testis. Like MAGE-1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 (HGMW-approved symbols MAGEA1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12), genes MAGE-B1 and MAGE-B2 are expressed in a significant fraction of tumors of various histological types. The transcription of MAGE-B1 and MAGE-B2 can be induced by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, suggesting that the activation of these genes in tumors results from a demethylation process.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Brussels Branch, Belgium. lurquin@licr.ucl.ac.be
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lurquin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Smet
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brasseur
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Muscatelli
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martelange
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Plaen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brasseur
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Monaco
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boon
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001374:Azacitidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D000077209:Decitabine; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014960:X Chromosome
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D000077209:Decitabine; D001374:Azacitidine