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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

A Non-random Mouse Model for Pharmacological Reactivation of Mecp2 on the Inactive X Chromosome
Published on: May 22, 2019
A new model for random X chromosome inactivation
Joshua Starmer1, Terry Magnuson
1Department of Genetics and the Carolina Center for the Genome Sciences, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Abstract:
X chromosome inactivation (XCI) reduces the number of actively transcribed X chromosomes to one per diploid set of autosomes, allowing for dosage equality between the sexes. In eutherians, the inactive X chromosome in XX females is randomly selected. The mechanisms for determining both how many X chromosomes are present and which to inactivate are unknown. To understand these mechanisms, researchers have created X chromosome mutations and transgenes. Here, we introduce a new model of X chromosome inactivation that aims to account for the findings in recent studies, to promote a re-interpretation of existing data and to direct future experiments.
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