title: X chromosome imprinting and inactivation in preimplantation mammalian embryos.
abstract: Dosage compensation for the mammalian X chromosome involves the silencing of one X chromosome to achieve equal X-linked gene expression between males and females. X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is controlled by a complex set of genetic elements located in a region known as the X chromosome inactivation center, and is regulated by a combination of genomic imprinting, cell lineage-dependent erasure of imprinting, an unidentified mechanism of X chromosome counting, an incompletely understood means of selection of one X chromosome for inactivation and developmentally regulated changes in X chromosome chromatin. A detailed understanding of when and how these components of XCI occur is essential for elucidating the operative mechanisms. A model accounting for early events related to XCI, including observations in uniparental and aneuploid embryos, is presented.
authors.affiliation: The Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology and The Department of Biochemistry, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. klatham@temple.edu
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Latham
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst; D041321:Chromosomes, Human, X; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014960:X Chromosome