Male Enhanced Antigen 1 (MEA1)

The mouse and human sequences showed over 95% homology and the sequence conservation extended to other mammals as shown by Southern blot analysis. The human sequence encodes a deduced 186-amino acid polypeptide.

MEA1 is expressed as a 1 kb mRNA in all pre- and post-meiotic mammalian testes, in primary and established Sertoli cells, and shows 1000-fold higher expression in established male than female cell lines. Two 40-kb DNA segments, one isolated from a human and one from a genomic cosmid library, contained not only this gene but 2 other linked genes that are also abundantly expressed in the testes. The genetic conservation and testes-specific expression suggest that the gene cluster may be important for testicular differentiation and function.