Exon 1, as well as upstream sequence, was replaced with a neomycin selection cassette inserted by homologous recombination. Exon 1 encoded the start codon, the putative TMD1 domain, and the extracellular loop between the putative TMD1 and TMD2 domains. Transcript was undetected in homozygous mutant mice by Northern blot analysis of total kidney RNA. (J:86270)