Journal
SEMINARS IN CELL & DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 56, Issue -, Pages 88-99Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.04.014
Keywords
X-chromosome inactivation; Epigenetics; Development; Reprogramming; Pluripotency; Noncoding RNA
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
- Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa [SEV-2012-0208]
- [BFU2014-55275-P]
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With the emergence of sex-determination by sex chromosomes, which differ in composition and number between males and females, appeared the need to equalize X-chromosomal gene dosage between the sexes. Mammals have devised the strategy of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), in which one of the two X-chromosomes is rendered transcriptionally silent in females. In the mouse, the best-studied model organism with respect to XCI, this inactivation process occurs in different forms, imprinted and random, interspersed by periods of X-chromosome reactivation (XCR), which is needed to switch between the different modes of XCI. In this review, I describe the recent advances with respect to the developmental control of XCI and XCR and in particular their link to differentiation and pluripotency. Furthermore, I review the mechanisms, which influence the timing and choice, with which one of the two X-chromosomes is chosen for inactivation during random XCI. This has an impact on how females are mosaics with regard to which X-chromosome is active in different cells, which has implications on the severity of diseases caused by X-linked mutations. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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