TY - JOUR
T1 - Rsx is a metatherian RNA with Xist-like properties in X-chromosome inactivation
AU - Grant, Jennifer
AU - Mahadevaiah, Shantha K.
AU - Khil, Pavel
AU - Sangrithi, Mahesh N.
AU - Royo, Hélène
AU - Duckworth, Janine
AU - McCarrey, John R.
AU - Vandeberg, John L.
AU - Renfree, Marilyn B.
AU - Taylor, Willie
AU - Elgar, Greg
AU - Camerini-Otero, R. Daniel
AU - Gilchrist, Mike J.
AU - Turner, James M.A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank D. Bell and R. Lovell-Badge for advice on the characterisation of Rsx, J. Cloutier and G. Polikiewicz for help with germ-cell preparations and quantitative PCR, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Genomics core (National Institutes of Health, NIH) for RNA sequencing, A.Toth for the HORMAD1 antibody, the Biological and Procedural Services units at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) for animal husbandry and Rsx transgenesis, and J. Cocquet, L. Reynard, H. Byers and members of the Turner and P. Burgoyne laboratories for reading of the manuscript.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) (U117588498, U117597141, U117581331, U117597137), the NIH (HD60858), the Robert J. Kleberg Jr and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation, the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Possum Biocontrol (C10X0501), the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (1010453) and the NIDDK (NIH) Intramural Research Program.
PY - 2012/7/12
Y1 - 2012/7/12
N2 - In female (XX) mammals, one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated to ensure an equal dose of X-linked genes with males (XY). X-chromosome inactivation in eutherian mammals is mediated by the non-coding RNA Xist. Xist is not found in metatherians (marsupials), and how X-chromosome inactivation is initiated in these mammals has been the subject of speculation for decades. Using the marsupial Monodelphis domestica, here we identify Rsx (RNA-on-the-silent X), an RNA that has properties consistent with a role in X-chromosome inactivation. Rsx is a large, repeat-rich RNA that is expressed only in females and is transcribed from, and coats, the inactive X chromosome. In female germ cells, in which both X chromosomes are active, Rsx is silenced, linking Rsx expression to X-chromosome inactivation and reactivation. Integration of an Rsx transgene on an autosome in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to gene silencing in cis. Our findings permit comparative studies of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals and pose questions about the mechanisms by which X-chromosome inactivation is achieved in eutherians.
AB - In female (XX) mammals, one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated to ensure an equal dose of X-linked genes with males (XY). X-chromosome inactivation in eutherian mammals is mediated by the non-coding RNA Xist. Xist is not found in metatherians (marsupials), and how X-chromosome inactivation is initiated in these mammals has been the subject of speculation for decades. Using the marsupial Monodelphis domestica, here we identify Rsx (RNA-on-the-silent X), an RNA that has properties consistent with a role in X-chromosome inactivation. Rsx is a large, repeat-rich RNA that is expressed only in females and is transcribed from, and coats, the inactive X chromosome. In female germ cells, in which both X chromosomes are active, Rsx is silenced, linking Rsx expression to X-chromosome inactivation and reactivation. Integration of an Rsx transgene on an autosome in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to gene silencing in cis. Our findings permit comparative studies of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals and pose questions about the mechanisms by which X-chromosome inactivation is achieved in eutherians.
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U2 - 10.1038/nature11171
DO - 10.1038/nature11171
M3 - Article
C2 - 22722828
AN - SCOPUS:84863723258
VL - 487
SP - 254
EP - 258
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
SN - 0028-0836
IS - 7406
ER -