![]() Breeding between our H- ras mutant animals and previously available N- ras null mutants gave rise to viable double knockout (H- ras −/−/N- ras −/−) offspring expressing only K- ras genes which grew normally, were fertile, and did not show any obvious phenotype. Analysis of neuronal markers in the brains of knockout and wild-type H- ras mice showed that disruption of this locus did not impair or alter neuronal development. Characterization of lymphocyte subsets in the spleen and thymus showed no significant differences between wild-type and H- ras −/− mice. Homozygous mutant H- ras −/− mice reached sexual maturity at the same age as their littermates, and both males and females were fertile. 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. ![]() 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. ![]() 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.
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