20.500.12556/RUL-182429 Cross-species upregulation of MAGED2 in liver cancer suggests a role in obesity-driven tumor progression Melanoma-associated antigens (MAGEs) are cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) aberrantly expressed in multiple cancer types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and associated with aggressive phenotypes. Although MAGE proteins are widely studied as cancer immunotherapy targets, their roles in HCC and the regulation of their expression during liver pathogenesis in mouse models, including dietary effects, remain poorly understood. We analyzed Mage gene expression in liver tissues from 78 C3H/HeJ mice with chronic diet-induced obesity. While type I MAGE genes are frequently expressed in human HCC, we found no evidence of their expression in mouse liver tumors, suggesting species-specific regulation. In contrast, type II Maged2, previously reported to be upregulated in human HCC, was significantly increased in mouse liver tumors. Analysis of human HCC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database confirmed MAGED2 upregulation and its association with patient prognosis. Together, these findings identify MAGED2 as a conserved marker of liver cancer in both humans and mice and emphasize the importance of cross-species comparative approaches for selecting appropriate models and accurately interpreting results, particularly for CTAs, which often evolved recently and in a species-specific manner. cancer-testis antigen CTA comparative cancer research hepatocellular carcinoma high-fat diet liver tumors melanoma-associated antigen MAGE obesity antigen raka testisov CTA primerjalne raziskave raka hepatocelularni karcinom prehrana z visoko vsebnostjo maščob tumorji jeter z melanomom povezan antigen MAGE debelost true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-05-11 15:09:15 2026-05-11 15:09:24 2026-05-13 04:51:31 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 23 str. iss. 2, art. 139 Vol. 48 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 616.36-006:613.25 1467-3045 10.3390/cimb48020139 277413635 cimb-48-00139.pdf cimb-48-00139.pdf 1 E94D0D6233D13ABC9279BF34033EB321 0db07d57a976c8784e9fcd4b92f61e715fde4ed30aa520513e650ff9431c8815 ca487d7e-4d3a-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=233678 https://www.mdpi.com/1467-3045/48/2/139 1 55fc41d9-4d3a-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=233677 Medicinska fakulteta 0 0 0