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X chromosome inactivation and DNA methylation

1993; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-0348-9118-9_16

Judith Singer–Sam, Arthur D. Riggs,

Epigenetics and DNA Methylation

X chromosome inactivation (XCI) renders one of the two X chromosomes in female mammalian cells heterochromatin-like and genetically silent. This chromosome-wide phenomenon has long been considered a paradigm for the study of the effect of heterochromatinization and DNA methylation on gene expression in mammals (for reviews see Gartler and Riggs, 1983; Grant and Chapman, 1988; Lyon, 1988; Riggs, 1990b; Riggs and Pfeifer, 1992). The inactivation process is usually considered to consist of three components — initiation, spreading and maintenance. A role for DNA methylation is possible for all three of these processes, but most available information is relevant only to maintenance.