The dynamics of X-chromosome inactivation in mouse development.
Mammals utilize chromosomes to determine sex, but this leads to a problem with gene inequality. In the mouse, gene dosage disparity is evident by the presence of two X chromosomes in the female and a single X and Y chromosome in the male. To balance the X-linked transcriptional dose difference between the sexes, one of the two female X-chromosomes is silenced to equal the dose of XY males-a crucial developmental process known as X-chromosome inactivation. Here we highlight dosage compensation in the mouse, and detail the known mechanisms to set and erase these epigenetic marks during development.
Department of Neuroscience, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Burke Medical Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, White Plains, New York.
Yasunao
Y
Kamikawa
Mary E
ME
Donohoe
D000818:Animals; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D047108:Embryonic Development; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D049951:X Chromosome Inactivation