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EntityQ18032385· pop 7· linked from 39 articles

Also known as DXS1089, DXS399E, LINC00001, NCRNA00001, SXI1, swd66, X inactive specific transcript (non-protein coding), X inactive specific transcript

Xist (X-inactive specific transcript) is a non-coding RNA transcribed from the X chromosome of the placental mammals that acts as a major effector of the X-inactivation process. It is a component of the Xic – X-chromosome inactivation centre – along with two other RNA genes (Jpx and Ftx) and two protein genes (Tsx and Cnbp2).

Wikidata facts

Instance of
gene
Image
XistRNADNAFISH.jpg
Show 6 more facts
found in taxon
Homo sapiens
cytogenetic location
Xq13.2
genomic start
73040486
genomic end
73072588
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Encyclopedic overview

21 sections
Contents
  • Function
  • Gene location
  • Transcript organization
  • A region
  • C region
  • X-inactivation centre (XIC)
  • Tsix antisense transcript
  • Regulation of the Xist promoter
  • Methylation
  • dsRNA and RNAi
  • Tsix independent mechanisms
  • Pluripotent cell transcriptional factors
  • Polycomb repressive complex
  • Dosage compensation
  • X-inactivation cycle
  • Disease linkage
  • Interactions
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Xist (X-inactive specific transcript) is a non-coding RNA transcribed from the X chromosome of the placental mammals that acts as a major effector of the X-inactivation process. It is a component of the Xic – X-chromosome inactivation centre – along with two other RNA genes (Jpx and Ftx) and two protein genes (Tsx and Cnbp2).

The Xist RNA, a large (17 kb in humans) transcript, is expressed on the inactive chromosome and not on the active one. It is processed in a similar way to mRNAs, through splicing and polyadenylation. However, it remains untranslated. It has been suggested that this RNA gene evolved at least partly from a protein-coding gene that became a pseudogene. The inactive X chromosome is coated with this transcript, which is essential for the inactivation. X chromosomes lacking Xist will not be inactivated, while duplication of the Xist gene on another chromosome causes inactivation of that chromosome.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “XIST” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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