Evidence that the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway participates in X chromosome dosage compensation in mammals

Shanye Yin, Wenjun Deng, Hancheng Zheng, Zhengguo Zhang, Landian Hu, Xiangyin Kong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Current models of X chromosome dosage compensation are usually framed by reference to how regulation in transcriptional level elevates the gene expression of the active X chromosome. This framework, however, might be oversimplified because regulation of gene expression can also act at the post-transcriptional level. Here, after a genome-wide survey, we find that autosomal genes are more likely subject to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) than X-linked genes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that after NMD inhibition, balanced gene expression between X chromosome and autosomes is corrupted such that the global mean X/autosome gene expression ratio is decreased by 10-15%. Our results identify NMD as a post-transcription-level regulatory mechanism that contributes to the observed fine-tuning of X chromosome dosage compensation in mammals.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)378-382
Number of pages5
JournalBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Volume383
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 5 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Alternative splicing
  • Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD)
  • X chromosome dosage compensation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics
  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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