Melanoma Antigen Family B5 (MAGEB5)

Genes of the MAGE family direct the expression of tumor antigens that are recognized on human melanomas by autologous cytolytic T lymphocytes. By database searching with the sequence of MAGEC2 as query, Lucas et al. (2000) cloned 3 members of the MAGE gene family: MAGEB5, MAGEB6, and MAGEC3. The deduced MAGEB5 protein contains 275 amino acids and shares 44 to 52% sequence homology with the 4 previously identified MAGEB proteins. By RT-PCR analysis, MAGEB5 was not expressed in any normal human tissues tested, including testis. Of various tumor tissues tested, it was expressed in 1 seminoma only. By genomic sequence analysis, Lucas et al. (2000) mapped the MAGEB5 and MAGEB6 genes to chromosome Xp22, approximately 4.2 Mb from the previously identified cluster of MAGEB genes.