Disease relevance of BAGE

• BAGE: a new gene encoding an antigen recognized on human melanomas by cytolytic T lymphocytes [1].
• Gene BAGE is expressed in 22% of melanomas, 30% of infiltrating bladder carcinomas, 10% of mammary carcinomas, 8% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, and 6% of non-small cell lung carcinomas [1].
• Similar to BAGE1, the new BAGE genes are expressed in melanomas, bladder and lung carcinomas and in a few tumours of other histological types [2].
• New BAGE (B melanoma antigen) genes mapping to the juxtacentromeric regions of human chromosomes 13 and 21 have a cancer/testis expression profile [2].
• mRNA detection of tumor-rejection genes BAGE, GAGE, and MAGE in peritoneal fluid from patients with ovarian carcinoma as a potential diagnostic tool [3].

High impact information on BAGE

• Some of these antigens are encoded by genes MAGE-1, MAGE-3, and BAGE, which are expressed in a large fraction of tumors of various histological types but are silent in normal adult tissues with the exception of testis [4].
• Human genes expressed exclusively in tumors and male germ line cells, such as those of the MAGE, BAGE, and GAGE families, encode antigens recognized by T lymphocytes, which are potentially useful for antitumor immunotherapy [5].
• Of 11 cell lines, BAGE, GAGE1-6, GAGE1-2, MAGE-1, and MAGE-3 were detected in 7 (64%), 4 (36%), 3 (27%), 8 (73%), and 8 (73%) cell lines, respectively [6].
• An analysis of the relationship between clinicopathological factors and the expression of these genes revealed that either BAGE or one of these genes was more frequently expressed in histologically intestinal-type than in diffuse-type carcinomas [6].
• Also, DNA from testes and sperm was hypomethylated in at least one of the BAGE loci [7].

Biological context of BAGE

• In this paper, we show that the BAGE (B melanoma antigen) gene family was generated by chromosome rearrangements that occurred during the evolution of hominoids [8].
• MAGE, BAGE and GAGE gene expression has been extensively studied in different tumors of adults but is largely unknown in many forms of pediatric solid cancer [9].
• We analyzed the DNA methylation state of the sequences in or near the promoters of the BAGE loci by a quantitative bisulfite and PCR-based assay (multiplex COBRA) using MboI and HphI in 18 somatic tissue samples, 4 testis and 4 sperm samples, and 48 tumors and tumor cell lines [7].
• METHODS: The MAGE-1,MAGE-3,GAGE1-8,GAGE1-2 and BAGE mRNA lever in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines SMMC-7721, QQY-7701, BEL-7402 were studied by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and were compared with biopsied liver tissues [10].

Anatomical context of BAGE

• BACKGROUND/AIMS: The MAGE, GAGE and BAGE genes encode tumor antigens recognized by autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes [11].
• These antigens are currently regarded as promising targets for active, specific tumor immunotherapy because MAGE, BAGE and GAGE genes are expressed in many human cancers of different histotype and are silent in normal tissues, with the exception of spermatogonia and placental cells [9].
• MAGE, BAGE, and GAGE gene expression in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia [12].

Associations of BAGE with chemical compounds

• In addition, the frequency of expression of more recently discovered tumour antigens (BAGE, GAGE -1, -2 and GAGE -3, -6) was established using RT-PCR and ethidium bromide staining [13].

Other interactions of BAGE

• The duplicated region contained a fragment of the MLL3 gene, which, after juxtacentromeric reshuffling, generated the ancestral BAGE gene [8].
• CONCLUSION: These data suggest that immunotherapy of bladder cancer could target CTAs, especially those expressed at higher frequency such as MAGE-A, BAGE and NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1 [14].
• MAGE-A, BAGE and NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1 mRNAs were the most frequently detected, respectively in 5677%, 212% and 89% of superficial and in 6461%, 4139% and 276% of invasive tumours [14].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of BAGE

• Because of its tumor-specific expression, the BAGE-encoded antigen may prove useful for cancer immunotherapy [1].

References