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.[5] The MAL protein is also thought to interact with the protein encoded by LSMEM1 based on two-hybrid screening.[6]
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Alonso MA, Barton DE, Francke U (1988). "Assignment of the T-cell differentiation gene MAL to human chromosome 2, region cen----q13". Immunogenetics. 27 (2): 91–5. doi:10.1007/BF00351081. PMID3257199. S2CID30129595.
Rancaño C, Rubio T, Alonso MA (May 1994). "Alternative splicing of human T-cell-specific MAL mRNA and its correlation with the exon/intron organization of the gene". Genomics. 21 (2): 447–50. doi:10.1006/geno.1994.1294. PMID8088843.
Millán J, Puertollano R, Fan L, Alonso MA (Apr 1997). "Caveolin and MAL, two protein components of internal detergent-insoluble membranes, are in distinct lipid microenvironments in MDCK cells". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 233 (3): 707–12. doi:10.1006/bbrc.1997.6530. PMID9168919.
Llorente A, de Marco MC, Alonso MA (Oct 2004). "Caveolin-1 and MAL are located on prostasomes secreted by the prostate cancer PC-3 cell line". Journal of Cell Science. 117 (Pt 22): 5343–51. doi:10.1242/jcs.01420. PMID15466889. S2CID13354323.
Mimori K, Nishida K, Nakamura Y, Ieta K, Yoshikawa Y, Sasaki A, Ishii H, Alonso MA, Mori M (May 2007). "Loss of MAL expression in precancerous lesions of the esophagus". Annals of Surgical Oncology. 14 (5): 1670–7. doi:10.1245/s10434-006-9064-2. PMID17151798. S2CID7756279.