Background of the antigen
MPG (N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase, or 3-methyladenine (3MeA) DNA glycosylase) repairs the 3MeA lethal lesion blocking DNA replication in Escherichia coli. Analysis of human cDNA libraries found a cDNA that would hybridize to human genomic DNA but not to E. coli or yeast DNA. This MPG gene has been mapped to human chromosome 16 by analysis of a panel of DNAs from mouse/human and hamster/human hybrid cell lines.