G Antigen 6 (GAGE6)

One class of these antigens is encoded by genes are expressed in a large fraction of tumors of various histologic types but are silent in normal adult tissues, except for testis. Van den Eynde et al. (1995) identified GAGE1 as a gene encoding an antigen that is present on melanoma MZ2-MEL cells and is recognized by autologous CTLs. By screening a melanoma MZ2-MEL cDNA library with a GAGE1 cDNA, they isolated cDNAs representing 5 genes with sequence similarity to GAGE1. They named the genes GAGE2 (GAGE2C), GAGE3, GAGE4, GAGE5, and GAGE6. The GAGE2 to -6 cDNAs differ mainly by single nucleotide substitutions that are scattered throughout the sequence. The deduced GAGE6 protein has 117 amino acids. RT-PCR using primers common to GAGE1 to -6 found expression of these genes in various tumors but no expression in any normal adult tissue tested except testis.