Melanoma Antigen Family A9 (MAGEA9)

MAGEA9B is a duplication of the MAGEA9 gene on chromosome Xq28. The 2 copies are separated by about 194 kb. Expressed in many tumors of several types, such as melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, lung carcinoma and breast carcinoma, but not in normal tissues except for testes and placenta.The MAGEA family consists of 12 genes (MAGEA1 to MAGEA12), of which 6, MAGEA1, MAGEA2, MAGEA3, MAGEA4, MAGEA6, and MAGEA12, are expressed in melanomas and other cancers. For further background information on the MAGEA family.De Plaen et al. (1994) identified the 12 MAGEA genes. MAGEA9 appeared to be a weakly expressed member of the family. Rogner et al. (1995) isolated a MAGEA9 cDNA from a fetal brain cDNA library.