Myelin and lymphocyte protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MAL gene.The protein encoded by this gene is a highly hydrophobic integral membrane protein belonging to the MAL family of proteolipids. The protein has been localized to the endoplasmic reticulum of T-cells and is a candidate linker protein in T-cell signal transduction. In addition, this proteolipid is localized in compact myelin of cells in the nervous system and has been implicated in myelin biogenesis and/or function. The protein plays a role in the formation, stabilization and maintenance of glycosphingolipid-enriched membrane microdomains. Alternative splicing produces four transcript variants which vary from each other by the presence or absence of alternatively spliced exons 2 and 3.
Background References
1. Llorente A, de Marco MC, Alonso MA (2005). "Caveolin-1 and MAL are located on prostasomes secreted by the prostate cancer PC-3 cell line". J. Cell. Sci. 117 (Pt 22): 5343–51.
2. Dukhovny A, Goldstein Magal L, Hirschberg K (2006). "The MAL proteolipid restricts detergent-mediated membrane pore expansion and percolation". Mol. Membr. Biol. 23 (3): 245–57.
3. Mimori K, Nishida K, Nakamura Y et al. (2007). "Loss of MAL expression in precancerous lesions of the esophagus". Ann. Surg. Oncol. 14 (5): 1670–7.