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Updated: Jan 9, 2026
High-throughput Screening for Chemical Modulators of Post-transcriptionally Regulated Genes
Published on: March 3, 2015
Post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of dosage compensation in vertebrates
Nicholas Lister1, Kim McIntyre1, Paul Waters1
1School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Abstract:
Sex chromosome dosage compensation is thought to be essential in species with heteromorphic sex chromosomes. There has been a large emphasis on transcriptional regulation as the primary mechanism restoring gene dosage balance. However, emerging evidence across vertebrate lineages indicates that post-transcriptional mechanisms make critical contributions to balancing X/Z gene dosage in the proteome. Here, we propose potential mechanisms that may be responsible for this post-transcriptional regulation, including nonsense mediated decay (NMD), N6-methyladenosine RNA methylation (m6A) and sex specific micro-RNAs (miRNAs). We propose that multi-layered regulation of sex chromosome dosage is an ancient and widespread strategy. Recognizing the role of post-transcriptional processes not only reframes current models of dosage compensation, but also uncovers novel mechanisms underpinning development, reproduction and disease.
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