Melanoma antigen family A, 2B (MAGEA2B)

MAGE-A1 was originally identified after analysis of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) reactivity against autologous melanoma cells. The MAGE-A subfamily currently includes 12 closely related genes located at Xq28. Normally, the MAGE genes are only expressed in testis and placenta, and because spermatogonia do not express HLA class I major histocompatibility complexes, they are unable to present MAGE antigens to CTLs.  However, MAGE-A1, MAGE-A2, MAGE-A3, MAGE-A4, MAGE-A6, MAGE-A10, and MAGE-A12 have been found to be highly expressed in a variety of primary tumors and cancer cell lines. Zi-Tong Zhao et al. (2020) report ten genes (MAGEA2, MAGEA2B, MAGEA3, MAGEA4, MAGEA6, MUC13, GUCA2A, FFAR4, REG1A, and REG1B) were identified as hub genes in the protein-protein interaction network.  The expression levels of five genes (MAGEA2, MAGEA3, MAGEA4, MAGEA6, and REG1B) showed potential clinical value.