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Science 11 January 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5553, pp. 287 - 288
DOI: 10.1126/science.1068663
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Perspectives

GENETICS:
Do X Chromosomes Set Boundaries?

Ivona Percec and Marisa S. Bartolomei

In cells of the developing female embryo, genes on one of the two X chromosomes must be shut down. A noncoding gene called Xist and its antisense repressor Tsix are involved in the silencing process. However, it remains unclear how the female cell chooses which X chromosome to inactivate. In their Perspective, Percec and Bartolomei discuss new work (Chao et al.) that identifies a transcription regulator, CTCF, that cooperates with Tsix to help the cell make this choice.

The authors are at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. E-mail: bartolom{at}mail.med.upenn.edu, ipercec{at}mail.med.upenn.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Pax6 Regulation in Retinal Cells by CCCTC Binding Factor.
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Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 47, 5218-5226
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Regulation of Eye Development by Transcription Control of CCCTC Binding Factor (CTCF).
T. Li, Z. Lu, and L. Lu (2004)
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An N-Ethyl-N-Nitrosourea Mutagenesis Screen for Epigenetic Mutations in the Mouse.
I. Percec, J. L. Thorvaldsen, R. M. Plenge, C. J. Krapp, J. H. Nadeau, H. F. Willard, and M. S. Bartolomei (2003)
Genetics 164, 1481-1494
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Monozygotic twins with chromosome 22q11 deletion and discordant phenotypes: updates with an epigenetic hypothesis.
S M Singh, B Murphy, and R O'Reilly (2002)
J. Med. Genet. 39, e71-71
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Sex ratio and rheumatic disease: excerpts from an Institute of Medicine report.
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Lupus 11, 662-666
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Autosomal Dominant Mutations Affecting X Inactivation Choice in the Mouse.
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Science 296, 1136-1139
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