Impact of somatic XIST deletions on ongoing XIST expression and inactive X silencing and heterochromatin.

ABSTRACT: The long non-coding RNA XIST is critical for establishing X-chromosome inactivation early in development. XIST remains expressed from the inactive X throughout female life; yet in somatic cells silencing of most genes continues in the absence of XIST. As changes in XIST expression are observed in cancers and aging we sought to examine the impact of complete or partial XIST loss on gene expression and chromatin structure in the hTERT RPE-1 cell line. XIST regulatory elements lie within the gene, with ongoing expression dependent on the A repeat region. Upon loss of XIST expression there was up-regulation of a subset of X-linked genes, with escape genes showing an average 20% increase in expression. Near full Xi-expression was found for MED14 and USP9X upon XIST loss, with partial up-regulat

SUBMITTER: Bhangu KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12681265 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature