The mouse homologs of RELA and MLK3 are located within a 120-kb fragment on chromosome 19

Recent advances in the identification of a large collection of polymorphic genetic markers and unique probes have yielded respectively detailed genetic and physical maps of both human and mouse chromosomes. Since only a subset of these markers, that is, genes, are useful for comparative mapping, the integration of mouse genes in human maps and human genes in mouse maps can be used to refine both maps. Moreover, efforts have been focused particularly upon comparative mapping in the mouse where models might be identified or created by targeted mutagenesis methods. The proximal part of 11q (HSA11q12-q13) and the pericentromeric region of mouse Chromosome (Chr) 19 (MMU19) display syntenic conservation and contain a number of loci associated with malignancies and/or inherited disorders. For example, genomic amplifications and translocations of HSA11q12-q13 have been observed in human tumors (Lammie and Peters 1991; Courseaux et al. 1995), and this chromosomal region contains a putative tumor suppressor gene predisposing to multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) (Larsson et al. 1988). Moreover, genes related to inherited diseases, such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus type 4 (Hashimoto et al. 1994), Best's disease (Stone et al. 1992), Bardet-Biedl syndrome type 1 (Leppert et al. 1994), and spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (Ranum et al. 1994), have also been assigned to this chromosomal region (DBO).