Melanoma-associated antigen 11 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MAGEA11 gene. It is also involved in the androgen and progesterone receptor signaling pathways.
MAGEA11 is an androgen coregulator specific to primates. It was first identified in human melanomas, and has since been linked to several cancers. It is observed on spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes, and in some prostate and breast cancers.
This gene is a member of the MAGEA gene family. The members of this family encode proteins with 50 to 80% sequence identity to each other. The promoters and first exons of the MAGEA genes show considerable variability, suggesting that the existence of this gene family enables the same function to be expressed under different transcriptional controls. The MAGEA genes are clustered at chromosomal location Xq28. They have been implicated in some hereditary disorders, such as [dyskeratosis congenita]. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.
