The mouse neurofibromatosis type 2 gene maps to chromosome 11

Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is a dominantly inherited disease characterized by the development of bilateral vestibular schwannomas and meningiomas, which together represent 30% of primary brain tumors. The NF2 gene, which has recently been isolated, maps to the long arm of human chromosome 22. Using recombinant inbred mice, we have determined the chromosomal position of the mouse homologue of the NF2 gene. Analysis of the allele distribution in AKXD recombinant inbred strains using a simple sequence repeat polymorphism (D11Mcg1) in the 3' untranslated region of the mouse cDNA maps the mouse NF2 gene to the proximal region of chromosome 11, closely linked to Pmv-2. This region also contains the genes for leukemia inhibitory factor and neurofilament heavy-chain polypeptide and thus represents a region of conserved synteny between human chromosome 22 and mouse chromosome 11. Using additional polymorphic markers, we established the following locus order from the centromere: D11Mit1/D11Mit72/D11Mcg1-D11Mit74-Pmv-2-D11Mi t2-D11Mit77/D11Mit78/D11Mit63.