L-Antigen Family, Member 3 (LAGE3)

LAGE3 belongs to the ESO/LAGE gene family, members of which are clustered together on chromosome Xq28, and have similar exon-intron structures. Unlike the other family members which are normally expressed only in testis and activated in a wide range of human tumors, this gene is ubiquitously expressed in somatic tissues. The latter, combined with the finding that it is highly conserved in mouse and rat, suggests that the encoded protein is functionally important. An intronless pseudogene with high sequence similarity to this gene is located on chromosome 9. By searching EST databases with genomic sequences obtained from CpG islands located in the Xq28 region, Faranda et al. (1996) identified a gene, which they called ITBA2. The gene is relatively short, contains a 105-amino acid open reading frame, and is ubiquitously expressed.