Expression of raf family proto-oncogenes in normal mouse tissues.

We have determined RNA expression patterns of raf family proto-oncogenes in a variety of normal NFS/n mouse tissues, and several murine cell lines. Tissues were collected from male and female adults, and 16 day old fetuses. Raf-1 transcripts of 3.1 kb were found to be expressed in all tissues examined with highest levels in striated muscle, cerebellum and fetal brain. In contrast, A-raf showed wider variation in its range of expression, with the 2.6 kb transcripts being most abundant in epididymis and ovary. B-raf was found to have a very restricted expression pattern, with high levels in fetal brain and adult cerebrum. In addition to the 10 and 13 kb transcripts common to all B-raf expressing tissues, alternate sized B-raf RNAs were detected in testes, placenta and fetal membranes. We found no effect of gender on raf expression in non-sex related tissues, nor does tissue germline of origin correlate with levels of expression for any of the three genes.