ISSN:
1572-9931
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract TheXist gene resides on the X chromosome and is expressed in female but not male somatic cells. In female cells, only theXist allele on the inactive X chromosome is transcribed. We investigated the expression ofXist in diploid P10 female embryonal carcinoma cells that have two active X chromosomes.Xist RNA was present in these P10 cells. The X chromosomes in P10 cells carry differentXist alleles whose transcripts can be distinguished by restriction digestion of their cDNAs. Both alleles were expressed. Clones of P10 cells that had lost an X chromosome did not expressXist from the remaining allele. ThusXist is expressed in cultured cells developmentally arrested prior to X chromosome inactivation, indicating that theXist transcript is not always derived from an inactive X chromosome. Therefore,Xist expression per se cannot be a sufficient signal to inactivate an X chromosome.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02254758
