Mammalian females (XX) silence transcription on one of the two X chromosomes to compensate the expression dosage with males (XY). This process — named X-chromosome inactivation — entails a variety of epigenetic modifications that act synergistically to maintain silencing and make it heritable through cell divisions. Genes along the inactive X chromosome are, indeed, refractory to reactivation. Nonetheless, X-chromosome reactivation can occur alongside with epigenome reprogramming or by perturbing multiple silencing pathways. Here we review the events associated with X-chromosome reactivation during in vivo and in vitro reprogramming and highlight recent efforts in inducing Xi reactivation by molecular perturbations. This provides us with a first understanding of the mechanisms underlying X-chromosome reactivation, which could be tackled for therapeutic purposes.
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December 2021
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Fuelled by the ‘resolution revolution’, cryo-EM has transformed our molecular understanding of transcriptional regulation in bacteria. As an example, Wood and colleagues (pp. 2695–2710) present the sialic acid gene repressor NanR (PDB-6WFG), where cryo-EM revealed the DNA-binding mode. “E. coli Bacteria” by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Cover artwork courtesy of Christopher Horne.
Review Article|
November 25 2021
X-chromosome reactivation: a concise review
Alessandra Spaziano;
Alessandra Spaziano
Department of Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, via Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy
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Irene Cantone
Department of Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, via Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Correspondence: Dr Irene Cantone (irene.cantone@unina.it)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
September 14 2021
Revision Received:
November 03 2021
Accepted:
November 05 2021
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2021
Biochem Soc Trans (2021) 49 (6): 2797–2805.
Article history
Received:
September 14 2021
Revision Received:
November 03 2021
Accepted:
November 05 2021
Citation
Alessandra Spaziano, Irene Cantone; X-chromosome reactivation: a concise review. Biochem Soc Trans 17 December 2021; 49 (6): 2797–2805. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20210777
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