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  • X chromosome inactivation: new players in the initiation of gene silencing

X chromosome inactivation: new players in the initiation of gene silencing

27 mars 2017F1000Research

DOI : 10.12688/f1000research.10707.1

Auteurs

Ines Pinheiro, Edith Heard

Résumé

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.

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