An Xist-activating antisense RNA required for X-chromosome inactivation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26477563.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms9564 and PMC identifier 4616153.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The transcriptional imbalance due to the difference in the number of X chromosomes between male and female mammals is remedied through X-chromosome inactivation, the epigenetic transcriptional silencing of one of the two X chromosomes in females. The X-linked Xist long non-coding RNA functions as an X inactivation master regulator; Xist is selectively upregulated from the prospective inactive X chromosome and is required in cis for X inactivation. Here we discover an Xist antisense long non-coding RNA, XistAR (Xist Activating RNA), which is encoded within exon 1 of the mouse Xist gene and is transcribed only from the inactive X chromosome. Selective truncation of XistAR, while sparing the overlapping Xist RNA, leads to a deficiency in Xist RNA expression in cis during the initiation of X inactivation. Thus, the Xist gene carries within its coding sequence an antisense RNA that drives Xist expression.
Medical subject headings
- RNA, Antisense
- RNA, Long Noncoding
- X Chromosome Inactivation