Maternal effect for DNA mismatch repair in the mouse.

DNA mismatch repair (DMR) functions to maintain genome stability. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells deficient in DMR show a microsatellite instability (MSI) phenotype characterized by repeat length alterations at microsatellite sequences. Mice deficient in Pms2, a mammalian homolog of bacterial mutL, develop cancer and display MSI in all tissues examined, including the male germ line where a frequency of approximately 10% was observed.