Lessons from comparative analysis of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals |
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Authors: | Ikuhiro Okamoto Edith Heard |
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Institution: | (1) Mammalian Developmental Epigenetics Group, Institut Curie, CNRS UMR3215 INSERM U934, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France |
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Abstract: | In most mammals, X-chromosome inactivation is used as the strategy to achieve dosage compensation between XX females and XY
males. This process is developmentally regulated, resulting in the differential treatment of the two X chromosomes in the
same nucleus and mitotic heritability of the silent state. A lack of dosage compensation in an XX embryo is believed to result
in early lethality, at least in eutherians. Given its fundamental importance, X-chromosome inactivation would be predicted
to be a highly conserved process in mammals. However, recent studies have revealed major mechanistic differences in X inactivation
between eutherians and marsupials, suggesting that the evolution of the X chromosome as well as developmental differences
between mammals have led to diverse evolutionary strategies for dosage compensation. |
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