Female mice lacking Ftx lncRNA exhibit impaired X-chromosome inactivation and a microphthalmia-like phenotype.
Nat Commun
; 9(1): 3829, 2018 09 20.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30237402
ABSTRACT
X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an essential epigenetic process in female mammalian development. Although cell-based studies suggest the potential importance of the Ftx long non-protein-coding RNA (lncRNA) in XCI, its physiological roles in vivo remain unclear. Here we show that targeted deletion of X-linked mouse Ftx lncRNA causes eye abnormalities resembling human microphthalmia in a subset of females but rarely in males. This inheritance pattern cannot be explained by X-linked dominant or recessive inheritance, where males typically show a more severe phenotype than females. In Ftx-deficient mice, some X-linked genes remain active on the inactive X, suggesting that defects in random XCI in somatic cells cause a substantially female-specific phenotype. The expression level of Xist, a master regulator of XCI, is diminished in females homozygous or heterozygous for Ftx deficiency. We propose that loss-of-Ftx lncRNA abolishes gene silencing on the inactive X chromosome, leading to a female microphthalmia-like phenotype.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Microphthalmos
/
X Chromosome Inactivation
/
RNA, Long Noncoding
Limits:
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Nat Commun
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Year:
2018
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japón