2 MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN MAGEB GENE FAMILY LOCATED IN XP21.3 ARE EXPRESSED IN TUMORS OF VARIOUS HISTOLOGICAL ORIGINS

Genes of the MAGE family direct the expression of tumor antigens recog nized on a human melanoma by autologous cytolytic T lymphocytes. Twelv e closely related MAGE genes are located in the Xq28 region. These gen es share 60-98% nucleotide identity in their coding region. The presen ce of homologous genes in a region of Xp21.3 has been reported previou sly. We obtained the complete sequence of a 42-kb stretch of this regi on. It contains four MAGE-related genes, which we propose to name MAGE -B1, B2, B3, and B4 (HGMW-approved symbols MAGEB1, MAGEB2, MAGEB3, and MAGEB4). The coding regions of these genes share 66-81% nucleotide id entity and show 45-63% identity with those of the MAGE genes located i n Xq28. Like the MAGE genes located in Xq28, the MAGE-B genes are sile nt in normal tissues with the exception of testis. Like MAGE-1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 (HGMW-approved symbols MAGEA1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12), genes MAGE-B1 and MAGE-B2 are expressed in a significant fraction of tumors of various histological types. The transcription of MAGE-B1 and MAGE-B 2 can be induced by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, suggesting that the activa tion of these genes in tumors results from a demethylation process. (C ) 1997 Academic Press.