X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a dosage compensation process that was adopted by female mammals to balance gene dosage between XX females and XY males. XCI starts with the upregulation of the non-coding RNA Xist, after which most X-linked genes are silenced and acquire a repressive chromatin state. Even though the chromatin marks of the inactive X have been fairly well described, the mechanisms responsible for the initiation of XCI remain largely unknown. In this review, we discuss recent developments that revealed unexpected factors playing a role in XCI and that might be of crucial importance to understand the mechanisms responsible for the very first steps of this chromosome-wide gene-silencing event.
CITATION STYLE
Pinheiro, I., & Heard, E. (2017). X chromosome inactivation: New players in the initiation of gene silencing. F1000Research. Faculty of 1000 Ltd. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10707.1
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