[Evolutionary history of the SSX family of human C/T-antigens].

C/T-antigens are endogenous proteins expressed in normal testis, ovary and placenta, or in a variety of tumors. Such expression pattern sets the C/T antigens as promising targets for cancer vaccines. The SSX family comprises several C/T antigens. Here we applied comparative genomics techniques to study the evolution of the SSX genes. The human genomic locus includes 11 genes localized on the X chromosome in two separate regions 4 Mb apart. The recent pseudogenization of two SSX genes was demonstrated using the available expression data. The comparative analysis of the human, chimpanzee and mouse genomic loci allowed us to describe the phylogeny of the family and to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the locus in terms of elementary events.