The biological roles of cancer-testis antigens of the Melanoma antigen (Mage) family in mammalian development, stem cell differentiation and carcinogenesis are largely unknown.
Melanoma antigen genes (MAGEs) are emerging as important oncogenic drivers that are normally restricted to expression in male germ cells but are aberrantly expressed in cancers and promote tumorigenesis.
Melanoma antigen-A11 (<i>MAGE-A11</i>) is a low-abundance, primate-specific steroid receptor coregulator in normal tissues of the human reproductive tract, which plays an important role in tumorigenesis.
Overexpression of the ubiquitous type II melanoma antigen-D2 (MAGED2) in numerous types of cancer suggests that this protein contributes to carcinogenesis, a well-documented characteristic of other MAGE proteins.
However, further investigation revealed that MAGEs not only drive tumorigenesis but also regulate pathways essential for diverse cellular and developmental processes.