X chromosome inactivation: new players in the initiation of gene silencing
X chromosome inactivation: new players in the initiation of gene silencing
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DOI：
10.12688/f1000research.10707.1
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发表时间：
2017-03
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Ines Pinheiro;E. Heard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ines Pinheiro;E. Heard
X染色体失活（XCI）是雌性哺乳动物为平衡XX雌性和XY雄性之间的基因剂量而采取的一种剂量补偿过程。XCI开始于非编码RNA Xist的上调，之后大多数X连锁基因沉默并获得抑制性染色质状态。尽管失活X染色体的染色质标记已经被很好地描述，但XCI启动的机制仍然很大程度上未知。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了最近的事态发展，揭示了意想不到的因素在XCI中发挥作用，这可能是至关重要的，以了解负责这个染色体范围内的基因沉默事件的第一步的机制。
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.