The mammalian members of the MAGE (melanoma-associated antigen) gene family were originally described as completely silent in normal adult tissues, with the exception of male germ cells and, for some of them,

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mater ...

. By contrast, these genes were expressed in various kinds of

tumors A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

. MAGE-like genes have also been identified in non-mammalian species, like the

zebrafish The zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') is a freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family ( Cyprinidae) of the order Cypriniformes. Native to South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (and thus often ...

Drosophila melanogaster ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Ch ...

. Although no MAGE homologous sequences have been identified in

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (ro ...

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

Schizosaccharomyces pombe ''Schizosaccharomyces pombe'', also called "fission yeast", is a species of yeast used in traditional brewing and as a model organism in molecular and cell biology. It is a unicellular eukaryote, whose cells are rod-shaped. Cells typically meas ...

, MAGE sequences have been found in several vegetal species, including

Arabidopsis thaliana ''Arabidopsis thaliana'', the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small flowering plant native to Eurasia and Africa. ''A. thaliana'' is considered a weed; it is found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land. A winter a ...

. The only region of

homology Homology may refer to: Sciences Biology *Homology (biology), any characteristic of biological organisms that is derived from a common ancestor * Sequence homology, biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences *Homologous chrom ...

shared by all of the members of the family is a stretch of about 200

amino acids Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

which has been named the MAGE conserved domain. The MAGE conserved domain is usually located close to the

C-terminus The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein or polypeptide), terminated by a free carboxyl group (-COOH). When the protein is ...

, although it can also be found in a more central position in some proteins. The MAGE conserved domain is generally present as a single copy but it is duplicated in some proteins. It has been proposed that the MAGE conserved domain of MAGE-D proteins might interact with p75 neurotrophin or related receptors.

Human proteins containing this domain

MAGE-B1; MAGEA1;

MAGEA10 ''MAGEA10'' (MAGE family member A10) is a protein-coding gene in humans clustered at chromosomal location Xq28. Function This gene is a member of the MAGEA gene family. The members of this family encode proteins with 50 to 80% sequence identi ...

;

MAGEA11 Melanoma-associated antigen 11 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MAGEA11'' gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generat ...

; MAGEA12; MAGEA2B; MAGEA3;

MAGEA4 Melanoma-associated antigen 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MAGEA4'' gene. 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 ...

; MAGEA6; MAGEA8;

MAGEA9 Melanoma-associated antigen 9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MAGEA9'' gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generatio ...

; MAGEB1; MAGEB10; MAGEB16; MAGEB18;

MAGEB2 Melanoma-associated antigen B2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MAGEB2'' gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generati ...

; MAGEB3; MAGEB4; MAGEB5; MAGEB6; MAGEB6B; MAGEC1; MAGEC2; MAGEC3;

MAGED1 Melanoma-associated antigen D1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MAGED1'' gene. Function This gene is a member of the melanoma antigen gene (MAGE) family. Most of the genes of this family encode tumor specific antigens that are n ...

; MAGED2; MAGED4; MAGEE1; MAGEE2; MAGEF1; MAGEH1; MAGEL2; NDN; NDNL2;

References

{{InterPro content, IPR002190 Protein domains Protein families