scholarly journals X Chromosome Inactivation during Grasshopper Spermatogenesis

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1844
Author(s):  
Alberto Viera ◽  
María Teresa Parra ◽  
Sara Arévalo ◽  
Carlos García de la Vega ◽  
Juan Luis Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Male Meiosis ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Eutherian Mammal ◽  
Eyprepocnemis Plorans ◽  
Prophase I

Regulation of transcriptional activity during meiosis depends on the interrelated processes of recombination and synapsis. In eutherian mammal spermatocytes, transcription levels change during prophase-I, being low at the onset of meiosis but highly increased from pachytene up to the end of diplotene. However, X and Y chromosomes, which usually present unsynapsed regions throughout prophase-I in male meiosis, undergo a specific pattern of transcriptional inactivation. The interdependence of synapsis and transcription has mainly been studied in mammals, basically in mouse, but our knowledge in other unrelated phylogenetically species is more limited. To gain new insights on this issue, here we analyzed the relationship between synapsis and transcription in spermatocytes of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans. Autosomal chromosomes of this species achieve complete synapsis; however, the single X sex chromosome remains always unsynapsed and behaves as a univalent. We studied transcription in meiosis by immunolabeling with RNA polymerase II phosphorylated at serine 2 and found that whereas autosomes are active from leptotene up to diakinesis, the X chromosome is inactive throughout meiosis. This inactivation is accompanied by the accumulation of, at least, two repressive epigenetic modifications: H3 methylated at lysine 9 and H2AX phosphorylated at serine 139. Furthermore, we identified that X chromosome inactivation occurs in premeiotic spermatogonia. Overall, our results indicate: (i) transcription regulation in E. plorans spermatogenesis differs from the canonical pattern found in mammals and (ii) X chromosome inactivation is likely preceded by a process of heterochromatinization before the initiation of meiosis.

scholarly journals Spen links RNA-mediated endogenous retrovirus silencing and X chromosome inactivation

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ava C Carter ◽  
Jin Xu ◽  
Meagan Y Nakamoto ◽  
Yuning Wei ◽  
Brian J Zarnegar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Silencing ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Chromatin Accessibility ◽  
Endogenous Retrovirus ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation

The Xist lncRNA mediates X chromosome inactivation (XCI). Here we show that Spen, an Xist-binding repressor protein essential for XCI , binds to ancient retroviral RNA, performing a surveillance role to recruit chromatin silencing machinery to these parasitic loci. Spen loss activates a subset of endogenous retroviral (ERV) elements in mouse embryonic stem cells, with gain of chromatin accessibility, active histone modifications, and ERV RNA transcription. Spen binds directly to ERV RNAs that show structural similarity to the A-repeat of Xist, a region critical for Xist-mediated gene silencing. ERV RNA and Xist A-repeat bind the RRM domains of Spen in a competitive manner. Insertion of an ERV into an A-repeat deficient Xist rescues binding of Xist RNA to Spen and results in strictly local gene silencing in cis. These results suggest that Xist may coopt transposable element RNA-protein interactions to repurpose powerful antiviral chromatin silencing machinery for sex chromosome dosage compensation.

scholarly journals Regulation of X-chromosome dosage compensation in human: mechanisms and model systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1733) ◽  
pp. 20160363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sahakyan ◽  
Kathrin Plath ◽  
Claire Rougeulle
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Dosage Compensation ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Embryo Research ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
Mary Lyon

The human blastocyst forms 5 days after one of the smallest human cells (the sperm) fertilizes one of the largest human cells (the egg). Depending on the sex-chromosome contribution from the sperm, the resulting embryo will either be female, with two X chromosomes (XX), or male, with an X and a Y chromosome (XY). In early development, one of the major differences between XX female and XY male embryos is the conserved process of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), which compensates gene expression of the two female X chromosomes to match the dosage of the single X chromosome of males. Most of our understanding of the pre-XCI state and XCI establishment is based on mouse studies, but recent evidence from human pre-implantation embryo research suggests that many of the molecular steps defined in the mouse are not conserved in human. Here, we will discuss recent advances in understanding the control of X-chromosome dosage compensation in early human embryonic development and compare it to that of the mouse. This article is part of the themed issue ‘X-chromosome inactivation: a tribute to Mary Lyon’.

scholarly journals Detection of skewed X-chromosome inactivation in Fragile X syndrome and X chromosome aneuploidy using quantitative melt analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Godler ◽  
Yoshimi Inaba ◽  
Charles E. Schwartz ◽  
Quang M. Bui ◽  
Elva Z. Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fragile X Syndrome ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Fragile X ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Reference Method ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
Skewed X Chromosome Inactivation

Methylation of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) exon 1/intron 1 boundary positioned fragile X related epigenetic element 2 (FREE2), reveals skewed X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) in fragile X syndrome full mutation (FM: CGG > 200) females. XCI skewing has been also linked to abnormal X-linked gene expression with the broader clinical impact for sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs). In this study, 10 FREE2 CpG sites were targeted using methylation specific quantitative melt analysis (MS-QMA), including 3 sites that could not be analysed with previously used EpiTYPER system. The method was applied for detection of skewed XCI in FM females and in different types of SCA. We tested venous blood and saliva DNA collected from 107 controls (CGG < 40), and 148 FM and 90 SCA individuals. MS-QMA identified: (i) most SCAs if combined with a Y chromosome test; (ii) locus-specific XCI skewing towards the hypomethylated state in FM females; and (iii) skewed XCI towards the hypermethylated state in SCA with 3 or more X chromosomes, and in 5% of the 47,XXY individuals. MS-QMA output also showed significant correlation with the EpiTYPER reference method in FM males and females (P < 0.0001) and SCAs (P < 0.05). In conclusion, we demonstrate use of MS-QMA to quantify skewed XCI in two applications with diagnostic utility.

Monotreme Genetics and Cytology and a Model for Sex-Chromosome Evolution

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 385 ◽  
Author(s):  
JM Watson
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
In Situ Hybridisation ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Gene Location ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Syntenic Group ◽  
Chromosome Differentiation

The protherian mammals consist of three species: the platypus, the Australian echidna and the Niugini echidna. These mammals diverged from the therian line of descent about 150-200 million years ago; hence comparisons of gene arrangements and gene control mechanisms between prototherian and therian mammals may yield significant data about gene rearrangements during mammalian evolution and about the evolution of complex genetic control systems. The chromosome complements of the three monotreme species are highly conserved. In particular, the X (or X1) chromosomes are G-band identical and share considerable G-band homology with the Y chromosomes. Replication asynchrony between X chromosomes suggests that X chromosome inactivation operates in females, and is apparently tissue- specific (as it is in marsupials), and confined to the differential region of the X (X1) chromosome (as it is in eutherian mammals). These results suggest that sex chromosome differentiation in the monotremes represents an intermediate stage in the evolution of the dimorphic sex chromosomes of therian mammals and that X-chromosome inactivation may also represent a comparatively primitive stage. Studies of gene location in the platypus using platypus-rodent cell hybrids suggested that HPRT and PGK are syntenic in the platypus, but it was not possible to assign the syntenic group to a particular chromosome. In situ hybridisation was used to assign three genes, located on the X in eutherians and marsupials, to the monotreme X. However, human X short-arm markers were found by in situ hybridisation to be autosomal in monotremes (as they are in marsupials). A model for the evolution of mammalian sex chromosome differentiation and X-chromosome inactivation is presented in which a gradual reduction of the Y chromosome, and recruitment of newly unpaired loci on the X into a system of X-chromosome inactivation, has accompanied eutherian evolution.

scholarly journals Spen links RNA-mediated endogenous retrovirus silencing and X chromosome inactivation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ava C. Carter ◽  
Jin Xu ◽  
Meagan Y. Nakamoto ◽  
Yuning Wei ◽  
Quanming Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Silencing ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Dosage Compensation ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Rna Domains ◽  
In Cis

Dosage compensation between the sexes has emerged independently multiple times during evolution, often harnessing long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to alter gene expression on the sex chromosomes. In eutherian mammals, X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in females proceeds via the lncRNA Xist, which coats one of the two X chromosomes and recruits repressive proteins to epigenetically silence gene expression in cis1,2. How Xist evolved new functional RNA domains to recruit ancient, pleiotropic protein partners is of great interest. Here we show that Spen, an Xist-binding repressor protein essential for XCI3-7, binds to ancient retroviral RNA, performing a surveillance role to recruit chromatin silencing machinery to these parasitic loci. Spen inactivation leads to de-repression of a subset of endogenous retroviral (ERV) elements in embryonic stem cells, with gain of chromatin accessibility, active histone modifications, and ERV RNA transcription. Spen binds directly to ERV RNAs that show structural similarity to the A-repeat of Xist, a region critical for Xist-mediated gene silencing8-9. ERV RNA and Xist A-repeat bind the RRM3 domain of Spen in a competitive manner. Insertion of an ERV into an A-repeat deficient Xist rescues binding of Xist RNA to Spen and results in local gene silencing in cis. These results suggest that insertion of an ERV element into proto-Xist may have been a critical evolutionary event, which allowed Xist to coopt transposable element RNA-protein interactions to repurpose powerful antiviral chromatin silencing machinery for sex chromosome dosage compensation.

scholarly journals X-chromosome inactivation: dosage compensation of genes or heterochromatin?

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
AI Ibraimov
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Dosage Compensation ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Gene Dosage ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
Inactive X Chromosome ◽  
Mammalian Female

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is the process by which one of two X chromosomes in mammalian female cells is inactivated. The DNA of the inactive X chromosome is packaged in transcriptionally inactive heterochromatin. It is generally accepted that XCI have evolved to enable dosage compensation in mammals as a way to equalize X-linked gene expression between XX and XY individuals. However, there remain several controversial issues regarding the causes of XCI. The most important of them, why dosage compensation of genes? An alternative hypothesis is discussed that XCI is caused by dose compensation for heterochromatin, rather than genes, in the genome of female mammals due to the lack of a sex chromosome in their karyotype with a large constitutive heterochromatin block, as in Y chromosome in males. It is for this reason that heterochromatinization of the euchromatin regions of one of the X chromosomes occurs. The biological meaning of heterochromatinization is to increase the density of condensed chromatin (??) around the interphase nucleus, responsible for removing excess heat from the nucleus into the cytoplasm, since the compaction of ?? depends on the amount of heterochromatin. The consequence of this process is the inactivation of genes that were in the area of heterochromatinization of the X chromosome. Keywords: X-chromosome inactivation; Lyonization; Gene dosage compensation; Heterochromatin dosage compensation; Cell thermoregulation

X-linked CNV and skewed X-chromosome inactivation

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-21
Author(s):  
Е.А. Фонова ◽  
Е.Н. Толмачева ◽  
А.А. Кашеварова ◽  
М.Е. Лопаткина ◽  
К.А. Павлова ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Copy Number Variations ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome X ◽  
Skewed X Chromosome Inactivation

Смещение инактивации Х-хромосомы может быть следствием и маркером нарушения клеточной пролиферации при вариациях числа копий ДНК на Х-хромосоме. Х-сцепленные CNV выявляются как у женщин с невынашиванием беременности и смещением инактивации Х-хромосомы (с частотой 33,3%), так и у пациентов с умственной отсталостью и смещением инактивацией у их матерей (с частотой 40%). A skewed X-chromosome inactivation can be a consequence and a marker of impaired cell proliferation in the presence of copy number variations (CNV) on the X chromosome. X-linked CNVs are detected in women with miscarriages and a skewed X-chromosome inactivation (with a frequency of 33.3%), as well as in patients with intellectual disability and skewed X-chromosome inactivation in their mothers (with a frequency of 40%).

scholarly journals X-Linked Emery–Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy: Study Of X-Chromosome Inactivation and Its Relation with Clinical Phenotypes in Female Carriers

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viggiano ◽  
Madej-Pilarczyk ◽  
Carboni ◽  
Picillo ◽  
Ergoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Muscular Dystrophy ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Fibrous Tissue ◽  
X Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Chromosome Inactivation ◽  
Cardiac Conduction ◽  
Asymptomatic Carriers ◽  
Cardiac Symptoms ◽  
Female Carriers

X-linked Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD1) affects approximately 1:100,000 male births. Female carriers are usually asymptomatic but, in some cases, they may present clinical symptoms after age 50 at cardiac level, especially in the form of conduction tissue anomalies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between heart involvement in symptomatic EDMD1 carriers and the X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) pattern. The XCI pattern was determined on the lymphocytes of 30 symptomatic and asymptomatic EDMD1 female carriers—25 familial and 5 sporadic cases—seeking genetic advice using the androgen receptor (AR) methylation-based assay. Carriers were subdivided according to whether they were above or below 50 years of age. A variance analysis was performed to compare the XCI pattern between symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers. The results show that 20% of EDMD1 carriers had cardiac symptoms, and that 50% of these were ≥50 years of age. The XCI pattern was similar in both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers. Conclusions: Arrhythmias in EDMD1 carriers poorly correlate on lymphocytes to a skewed XCI, probably due to (a) the different embryological origin of cardiac conduction tissue compared to lymphocytes or (b) the preferential loss of atrial cells replaced by fibrous tissue.

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