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Out of the Silence: Insights into How Genes Escape X-Chromosome Inactivation Peeters, Samantha B.; Posynick, Bronwyn J.; Brown, Carolyn Janet

Abstract

The silencing of all but one X chromosome in mammalian cells is a remarkable epigenetic process leading to near dosage equivalence in X-linked gene products between the sexes. However, equally remarkable is the ability of a subset of genes to continue to be expressed from the otherwise inactive X chromosome—in some cases constitutively, while other genes are variable between individuals, tissues or cells. In this review we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches that have been used to identify escapees. The identity of escapees provides important clues to mechanisms underlying escape from XCI, an arena of study now moving from correlation to functional studies. As most escapees show greater expression in females, the not-so-inactive X chromosome is a substantial contributor to sex differences in humans, and we highlight some examples of such impact.

Item Metadata

Title
Out of the Silence: Insights into How Genes Escape X-Chromosome Inactivation
Creator
Peeters, Samantha B.; Posynick, Bronwyn J.; Brown, Carolyn Janet
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Life Sciences Institute; Life Sciences Institute Molecular Epigenetics
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2023-11-23
Description
The silencing of all but one X chromosome in mammalian cells is a remarkable epigenetic process leading to near dosage equivalence in X-linked gene products between the sexes. However, equally remarkable is the ability of a subset of genes to continue to be expressed from the otherwise inactive X chromosome—in some cases constitutively, while other genes are variable between individuals, tissues or cells. In this review we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches that have been used to identify escapees. The identity of escapees provides important clues to mechanisms underlying escape from XCI, an arena of study now moving from correlation to functional studies. As most escapees show greater expression in females, the not-so-inactive X chromosome is a substantial contributor to sex differences in humans, and we highlight some examples of such impact.
Subject
X-chromosome inactivation; escape; heterochromatin; repetitive elements; allelic expression; DNA methylation; sex differences
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2024-03-12
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0440657
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87565
Affiliation
Medicine, Faculty of; Medical Genetics, Department of
Citation
Epigenomes 7 (4): 29 (2023)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/epigenomes7040029
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0