Inherited hemolytic disease in mice: a review and update.

There are four overt hemolytic diseases in the mouse which have almost identical clinical syndromes but are genetically distinct. These include hemolytic anemia (gene symble ha), jaundice (ja), normoblastic anemia (nb) and spherocytosis (sph). Each of the hemolytic disorders arises from an intrinsic defect in erythrocyte membrane proteins. Each of the responsible genes is involved, in some fashion, in the common process of membrane development and the maintenance of its integrity. Because each gene has its own special function, the gross phenotypic manifestations, although similar, must have a different functional basis.