When X-inactivation meets pluripotency: An intimate rendezvous

Abstract 

The integration of X-inactivation with development is a crucial aspect of this classical paradigm of epigenetic regulation. During early female mouse development, X-inactivation reprogramming occurs in pluripotent cells of the inner cell mass of the blastocyst and in pluripotent primordial germ cells. Here we discuss the developmental strategies which ensure the coupling of the regulation of X-inactivation to the acquisition of pluripotency through the regulation of the master of X-inactivation, the non-coding Xist gene, by the key factors which support pluripotency Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2.

Abbreviations: ICM, inner cell mass, TE, trophectoderm, PE, primitive endoderm, EPI, epiblast, PGCs, primordial germ cells, EC, embryonic carcinoma, ES, embryonic stem, iPS, induced pluripotent stem, Xic, X-inactivation center, Xist, X-inactive specific transcript, Tsix, Xist antisense, Xi, inactive X, ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation

Keywords: X-inactivation, Pluripotency, X-inactive specific transcript, Nanog, Oct4, Sox2