Paraneoplastic Antigen MA3 (PNMA3)

PNMA3 is a member of a family of genes, the paraneoplastic Ma genes, whose protein products are the targets of immunity associated with paraneoplastic disorders . The PNMA3 gene contains a functional heptanucleotide shift sequence and a classical H-type pseudoknot that promotes -1 frameshifting at approximately 20% efficiency both in vitro and in vivo.

The deduced 470-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 53.3 kD and shares regions of up to 75% amino acid identity with previously identified Ma proteins PNMA1 and PNMA2 and with MAP1 (MOAP1). PNMA3 contains several potential phosphorylation sites and a zinc finger C2HC domain near the 3-prime terminus; the latter feature is unique to PNMA3.