Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Previous studies have implicated the Eed-Enx1 Polycomb group complex in the maintenance of imprinted X inactivation in the trophectoderm lineage in mouse. Here we show that recruitment of Eed-Enx1 to the inactive X chromosome (Xi) also occurs in random X inactivation in the embryo proper. Localization of Eed-Enx1 complexes to Xi occurs very early, at the onset of Xist expression, but then disappears as differentiation and development progress. This transient localization correlates with the presence of high levels of the complex in totipotent cells and during early differentiation stages. Functional analysis demonstrates that Eed-Enx1 is required to establish methylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 and/or lysine 27 on Xi and that this, in turn, is required to stabilize the Xi chromatin structure.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Dev Cell

Publication Date

04/2003

Volume

4

Pages

481 - 495

Keywords

Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Cell Differentiation, Cells, Cultured, Chromatin, DNA Methylation, Dosage Compensation, Genetic, Embryo, Mammalian, Female, Fetus, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase, Histones, Lysine, Male, Methyltransferases, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Polycomb Repressive Complex 2, Polycomb-Group Proteins, Protein Methyltransferases, RNA, Long Noncoding, RNA, Untranslated, Repressor Proteins, Totipotent Stem Cells, X Chromosome