MAGE Proteins and the Regulation of E2F Pathway

Abstract

Melanoma Antigens Genes (MAGE) constitutes a mutagenic family divided in two subfamilies, MAGE-I and MAGE-II, according to its tissue pattern expression. While MAGE-I in adult humans are only expressed in testis and tumors tissues, those belonging to MAGE-II subfamily are ubiquitously expressed. During the last decade, functional characterization of MAGE proteins points to a role in transcription regulation. E2F1 is a member of the E2F family and is among the transcription factors reported to be modulated by MAGE proteins. In this article we will focus on reported cases of E2F1 modulation by members of MAGE-I and MAGE-II subfamilies and the resulting biological consequences observed in normal and tumor cells.