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. 1991 Jun 1;88(11):4592–4595. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.11.4592

Inactivation of the Zfx gene on the mouse X chromosome.

D A Adler 1, S L Bressler 1, V M Chapman 1, D C Page 1, C M Disteche 1
PMCID: PMC51711  PMID: 2052543

Abstract

ZFX, an X chromosome-linked gene encoding a zinc-finger protein, has previously been shown to escape X inactivation in humans. Here we report studies of the inactivation status of the homolog, Zfx, on the mouse X chromosome. We took advantage of both the preferential inactivation of the normal X chromosome in females carrying the T(X;16)16H translocation and the high degree of nucleotide sequence variation between the laboratory strain of mouse [corrected] and Mus spretus genomes. An EcoRV restriction fragment difference between laboratory strain of mouse [corrected] and M. spretus was detected after amplification of Zfx transcripts using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Using this allelic variation, we assessed expression of the two Zfx genes in females carrying the T(X;16)16H translocation (from laboratory strain of mouse [corrected]) and an intact X chromosome (from M. spretus). Such females exhibit Zfx transcription from the active laboratory strain of mouse [corrected] chromosome but not from the inactive M. spretus chromosome. These results indicate that the mouse Zfx gene is subject to X inactivation.

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