Targeted genomic disruption of H-ras and N-ras, individually or in combination, reveals the dispensability of both loci for mouse growth and development.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian cells harbor three highly homologous and widely expressed members of the ras family (H-ras, N-ras, and K-ras), but it remains unclear whether they play specific or overlapping cellular roles. To gain insight into such functional roles, here we generated and analyzed H-ras null mutant mice, which were then also bred with N-ras knockout animals to ascertain the viability and properties of potential double null mutations in both loci. Mating among heterozygous H-ras(+/-) mice produced H-ras(-/-) offspring with a normal Mendelian pattern of inheritance, indicating that the loss of H-ras did not interfere with embryonic and fetal viability in the uterus. Homozygous mutant H-ras(-/-) mice reached sexual maturity at the same age as their littermates, and both males and females were fert

SUBMITTER: Esteban LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC86690 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature