The mammalian members of the MAGE (melanoma-associated antigen) gene family were originally described as completely silent in normal adult tissues, with the exception of male germ cells and, for some of them, placenta.
[1] The only region of homology shared by all of the members of the family is a stretch of about 200 amino acids which has been named the MAGE conserved domain.
The MAGE conserved domain is usually located close to the C-terminus, although it can also be found in a more central position in some proteins.
The MAGE conserved domain is generally present as a single copy but it is duplicated in some proteins.
It has been proposed that the MAGE conserved domain of MAGE-D proteins might interact with p75 neurotrophin or related receptors.