The Xist noncoding RNA is a key component in silencing of one X chromosome in female mammalian cells as part of the process of dosage compensation. Now a previously described repeat element in Xist, the A-repeat, is shown to bind the splicing factor ASF/SF2, and it is further shown that normal Xist processing may be involved in stochastically determining which X is inactivated.
- Morgan E Royce-Tolland
- Angela A Andersen
- Barbara Panning
