Schwann cells are thought to be abnormal in type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1) and to
contribute to the formation of benign and malignant tumors in this disease, To test the role of
the NFI gene product neurofibromin as a Ras-GTPase activating protein in Schwann cells,
and to study the effect of the loss of neurofibromin on Schwann cell proliferation, we isolated
Schwann cells from mice with targeted disruption of NFI. The properties of these
neurofibromin deficient cells were strikingly similar to those of v-ras expressing rat Schwann …