| First Author | Sarkar MK | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | Nat Commun | Volume | 6 |
| Pages | 8564 | PubMed ID | 26477563 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:227628 | Mgi Id | MGI:5702341 |
| Doi | 10.1038/ncomms9564 | Citation | Sarkar MK, et al. (2015) An Xist-activating antisense RNA required for X-chromosome inactivation. Nat Commun 6:8564 |
| abstractText | 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. |
