Abstract
BACKGROUND: Melanoma Antigen Genes (MAGEs) are a family of genes that have piqued the interest of scientists for their unique expression pattern. The MAGE genes can be classified into type I MAGEs that expressed in testis and other reproductive tissues while type II MAGEs that have broad expression in many tissues. Several MAGE gene families are expressed in embryonic tissues in almost all eukaryotes, which is essential for embryo development mainly during germ cell differentiation. The aim of this study was to analyze the promoter regions and regulatory elements (transcription factors and CpG islands) of MAGE genes encoding for embryonic development in cattle. RESULTS: The in silico analysis revealed the highest promoter prediction scores (1.0) for TSS were obtained for two gene sequences (MAGE B4-like and MAGE-L2) while the lowest promoter prediction scores (0.8) was obtained for MAGE B17-like. It also revealed that the best common motif, motif IV, bear a resemblance with three TF families including Zinc-finger family, SMAD family and E2A related factors. From thirteen identified TFs candidates, majority of them (11/13) were clustered to Zinc-finger family serving as transcriptionally activator role whereas three (SP1, SP3 and Znf423) of them as activator or repressor in response to physiological and pathological stimuli. On the other hand we revealed slightly rich CpG islands in the gene body and promoter regions of MAGE genes encoding for embryonic development in cattle. CONCLUSION: This in silico analysis of gene promoter regions and regulatory elements in MAGE genes could be useful for understanding regulatory networks and gene expression patterns during embryo development in bovine.